On Mary’s wedding day, she was not going to let anything in the way of dancing with her father, Jim.

She had been dancing with him ever since she was a little girl.

Unfortunately, her father was suffering from incurable brain cancer and didn’t have long to live.

“Me and my dad have always danced together.” – Mary Bourne Roberts

Mary and her father loved to dance together.

When Mary was young, she and her father used to love to dance around the kitchen together. Their song was “I Hope You Dance” by Lee Ann Womack.

The song is about never giving up, taking chances, and that you can always “sit it out or dance.” It was their song. They hoped one day that they could dance together to it at Mary’s wedding.

Dancing means a lot to Mary. She majored in it at the University of Alabama. She would later receive a job working at a dance academy. Those dances she shared with her father early in her life certainly influenced her career choice.

Mary would meet and become engaged to a man named James.

Unfortunately, the family would learn some bad news about Mary’s father’s health before the two were married.

Mary’s father was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer.

She decided to move closer to home so she could be near him during his final days. She and James moved their wedding date closer so that her father would still be here when it arrived. When the date came, Jim was in hospice care.

“We were ready to get married but especially with that looming we thought we shouldn’t waste our time.” – Mary told Ellen

Jim is able to attend his daughter’s wedding before he passes.

Jim was able to attend the wedding in a wheelchair. While he needed time to rest during the event, he made sure to return in order to keep his promise to his daughter to dance with her on her special day.

Mary held her father’s hand and wheeled him around on the dance floor.

She kissed him on the cheek several times as well. They did it, they kept their promise to one another and danced to their song at Mary’s wedding. Sadly, Jim would pass away less than two weeks after the wedding.

The emotional moment was posted online and went viral.

Mary and her husband James were invited to the Ellen Show. After their appearance, the video of their father-daughter dance was shared millions of times.

“We didn’t even hire a videographer, my photographer just switched to the video mode and she uploaded it I think when we were on our honeymoon…we came home and were like, ‘what happened!’” – Mary told Ellen.

“I am very emotional all the time and I knew during the wedding…I was trying to show her that I was ok because I didn’t want to start a downhill spiral. Well, I did a really good job all the way until that dance started and I literally couldn’t see anybody but them two and to this day its the most happy, beautiful memory.” – James told Ellen

Watch Mary and her father share an emotional dance in the video below.

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Source: The Ellen Show/Blue Room Photography