Bride Dances With Terminally Ill Dad And You Will Cry Real Tears


The wedding is one of the moments in our lives that we will always remember. It doesn’t matter if it is the walk down the aisle, the first dance or sharing the first slice of cake, it is something that will always be a part of us.

One of the events that is a big deal for many brides is the special dance with her father. That was true of Mary Bourne Roberts, a new bride from Alabama.

The song was starting and they had selected Lee-Ann Womack’s “I Hope You Dance.” It is one of those songs that is sure to bring a tear to your eye but when she wheeled her terminally ill father, Jim, onto the dance floor, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

Jim suffers from a type of untreatable brain tumor, known as glioblastoma. He is currently in hospice, after being diagnosed last year. He wasn’t even sure if he would make it for his daughter’s special day.

Even though the moment was bittersweet, Mary was smiling from ear to ear as she rolled her dad back and forth on the dance floor.

The moment was caught on video by Blue Room Photography and it shows how Jim had teared up and sang along with the music. The moment is so beautiful and the video went viral instantly. Since it was uploaded to Facebook, it has been watched 400,000 times and still going.

Father-Daughter Dance – Jim and Mary Bourne

Sweetest Father-Daughter Dance ever! The bride, Mary Bourne Roberts (now Mrs. James Butts) is a professional dance teacher. Her father, attorney Jim Roberts, has a limited time on this earth. Mary Bourne chose "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack for their Father-Daughter Dance and its just great! (Camera is hand held so please excuse the bumpiness).

Posted by Blue Room Photography on Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Mary talked about the moment that she shared with her father. She was determined to share that moment in time.

“We weren’t sure how he was going to even feel that day,” she said. “We just knew that we were going to do it somehow.”

Jim’s wife, Tracy said that the dance meant the world to him.

“It was such a good thing to happen to him,” she told AL.com. “He would have cried through the whole thing even if he’d been on his feet.”

“It was a great day for him, a beautiful, perfect day for all of us.”

Jim was not only able to ‘dance’ with his daughter, he even walked her down the aisle (with a helpful push from a guest).

Mary’s family loves the attention that the dance has generated but they say it really isn’t a surprise.

“It’s been great to see people touched by the love they share – we’re used to seeing it all the time!” Tracy said.


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