Many women have been dreaming about their wedding day since they were just little girls. Sure, the groom always holds a spotlight in the imaginary celebration of their future weddings, but they aren’t the only ones. Many a bride-to-be has spent countless hours dreaming about all the people who will grace her big day, and among the first of them is their mom and dad.

In turn, every mom and dad look forward to that special day when they will give their baby away to the man she loves.

Sadly, not every mom or dad will live to see that special moment. Becky Cary is one woman who knows this all too well. Her dad, a U.S. Air Force Colonel, Timothy Carey, had always dreamed of giving his daughter away but they learned he wasn’t going to live to see the day.

Giving Becky away to Matt, her husband-to-be, wasn’t the only moment her dad had dreamt about.

In addition to walking her down the aisle, he was also dreaming about the special father-daughter dance that every bride should get to share with her dad on their wedding day. Then they received the tragic news that would dash those dreams to the ground.

Becky’s dad had been diagnosed with stage-4 prostate cancer, as well as stage-4 pancreatic cancer five years ago.

Timothy’s time left in this world was short.

The Air Force Colonel had fought his battle with cancer for as long and as hard as he could. Eventually, though, the toll that both the cancers and treatments took on his body forced him into hospice care.

Even though her dad had gotten progressively worse, when Becky and Matt got engaged in September last year, they had both been holding out hope that Timothy would make it to the wedding. As time went on and it became apparent this wouldn’t be the case, though, Becky made a tough decision. Rather than getting her engagement photos, she canceled the shoot in favor of a different set of photos.

Becky requested her photographer to take a series of photos of her with her dad, but they weren’t just any photos.

Becky wanted her dad to feel like he was a part of her big celebration, and so they had a pre-wedding photoshoot. They also recorded Becky sharing a very special dance with her dad, so she would be able to relive the precious moment again and again.

In an interview with Inside Edition, Becky confessed she’d been in denial about how bad her dad’s condition was. When she was finally able to accept the reality of the situation, she decided to make the best of it by getting as many shots of them enjoying their time laughing and talking with each other as she could.

Their special moment was well worth the engagement photo sacrifice.

As Becky shared the special dance with her 70-year-old dad, she whispered into his ear that their photo-op was “just practice and just for fun.” She wanted them both to forget the worries of the day and just be joyful in the moment.

The photos are breathtakingly magical.

They had their shoot in the family’s backyard, where Becky shared so many cherished memories with her dad.

Colonel Timothy Carey passed away in March this year, just six months before Becky and Matt tied the knot. Though the couple was utterly heartbroken, it gave Becky unimaginable joy to be able to have the video of her father-daughter dance played back to her at her wedding. There is no question her dad was with her.

According to Becky, she knows in her heart of hearts that her dad had battled his cancer as long as he had just to be there for her.

“He fought cancer harder than anyone. He should have died at least seven times prior. I know he was holding on for me.”

To learn more about their beautiful story, watch the video below.

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H/T: Shareably