By Lindsey Wilder
Since I was a little girl, my mother, Elizabeth Wilder, and I had shared dreams of my wedding day. From the invitations and flower arrangements, to the wedding dress and cake, she and I had preplanned all of the wedding details. By the time I got engaged at the age of 25, my mother had already been battling pancreatic cancer for over a year. I was faced with the devastating reality that my mother would not live to see me get married. Sadly, my mother lost her battle with pancreatic cancer on February 15, 2008, and like everyone else who had known and loved her, I was heart-broken.
Over the next nine months, my fiancé and I considered various options that would allow us to incorporate my mom’s spirit into our wedding. After reading about a few organizations, we stumbled upon the Hirshberg Foundation’s website and learned that their main focus is on raising funds for laboratory research in hopes of developing a cure for the cancer. Shortly after sending our contribution, we received purple ribbons for our wedding guests, as well as place cards explaining the purpose of our donation.
On the evening of November 8, 2008, I walked happily down the aisle with a bit of lace from my mother’s wedding dress sewn into mine, and one of her brooches pinned to my bouquet. With the color purple (also my mom’s favorite color) integrated into our clothing, flowers, and decorations, we each proudly donned our purple ribbons throughout the night in honor and loving remembrance of her life.
This past February 15th, on the one year anniversary of her passing, my whole family got together again to commemorate my mother’s life. People brought flowers and memories to share, and still others made additional donations to the Hirshberg Foundation to try and help fight this horrific disease. Though my mother was not able to attend my wedding in person, her spirit and her love was all around us that night.