Dorothy Roberts has lived at the nursing home for 13 years and her daughter, Robyn, wanted to ensure that her mom would be there at her wedding.
While many couples are postponing their wedding date to ensure that their loved ones are a part of their special day, many others are looking for innovative solutions to the problems the pandemic has brought. One devoted daughter wanted her mom, who lives in a nursing home, to be part of her special day and made sure that it happens. Such is the close bond between this mother and daughter duo.
Robyn Roberts-Williams and her fiance Tim Williams had set their wedding date for spring 2021 but little did they know that their plans would get affected by an infection. They decided to move the date of the wedding ahead. Robyn, whose mother Dorothy Roberts, 89, lived in a nursing home and was susceptible to the virus, had to come up with a unique idea to get her RSVP. Her mother would need to be socially distant and covered up in PPE, if she was outside, so she brought her wedding to her mom, according to Good Morning America.
Dorothy got a front-row view of her daughter's wedding, just like she would have if Robyn was walking down the aisle at a church. "I'm so happy to be here to attend my daughter's wedding," Dorothy said on her daughter's wedding date, which also happened to be Robyn's birthday.
"That day was my 52nd birthday and this is my first marriage. So for my mom to be there, my prayer has always been that. Even when she went to the nursing home, it was always that my mom would be at my wedding no matter what," Robyn told Patch.
Robyn and Tim got married at the Isabella Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Washington Heights, New York while Dorothy watched safely from her window. Each and every part of the wedding, except for the reception, was held at the nursing center's courtyard. The newlyweds chose to marry at the nursing home since there was no way Robyn was going to go through with the wedding without her mom there.
"To see my mom in the window ... it was more than we could have ever, ever possibly have asked for," Robyn said. "It really was a breathtaking moment."
Talking about the decision to marry there, she told Patch, "Once we saw the spot where we get to have the window visit, we said this would just be a perfect spot to have a small ceremony. A few people, efficient, a couple of family members, and that will be the end of that."
The nursing home also posted photos of the couple. "After weighing options, the couple asked if we'd allow them to marry in our Isabella Center courtyard on 10/10/20, so Dorothy, who's a 13-year Isabella resident and Robyn's mom, could participate. Our answer? A resounding yes! Congrats Robyn and Tim!!!! We wish you endless love and good health for all your days together. It was an honor to be part of your special day," said the nursing home through its social media.
Dorothy was in tears when she saw her daughter dressed in white. Robyn, who visits her mom every week at the nursing home, hasn't been able to hug her for months now. She has to sit outside in the facility’s garden to speak to her mother through a ground-floor window.
Robyn spoke to the director of therapeutic recreation, Jessica Garcia-Robinson, about getting married at the care facility and she approved it. "Her family is like our family," said Jessica. "It was honestly a privilege to have done this for them."
The happy couple lives in New Jersey.
References:
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/mother-watches-wedding-nursing-home-window-breathtaking-moment-73747308
https://patch.com/new-york/new-york-city/s/h9y2j/joyful-mom-joins-daughters-vows-from-behind-nursing-home-window?
