1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:21,560 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 2: Hospital staff rally to help couple Say I do amid 7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:33,479 Speaker 2: bride's rare cancer diagnosis, Written by Heather Rickoman, read by 8 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:36,720 Speaker 2: Julie Provost. Hospital staff rally to help a couple say 9 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 2: I do amid the bride's rare cancer diagnosis, and she 10 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 2: gets the wedding she dreamed of as little girls. So 11 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 2: many of us rehearsed our wedding days in our minds. 12 00:00:45,159 --> 00:00:47,600 Speaker 2: The flowers, the dress, the walk down the aisle, the 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 2: feeling of being chosen in a room full of people 14 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,040 Speaker 2: who love us. We imagined a story that felt like 15 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 2: a fairy tale, but in a quiet hospital room in Englewood, Colorado. 16 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 2: Alania Gleason showed us that love is not measured by 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,320 Speaker 2: chandelier or cathedral ceilings. It's measured by the heart that 18 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 2: chooses you leaven. When the world feels unbearably fragile, Lania 19 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 2: and Bailey Gleeson have already weathered years of life together. 20 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,320 Speaker 2: For eleven years, they have loved, struggled, grown and held on. 21 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 2: Yet marriage has always felt like slightly out of reach 22 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,000 Speaker 2: until it suddenly wasn't. Two days after Bailey proposed, they 23 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,960 Speaker 2: decided that waiting no longer made sense. With some, you know, 24 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 2: recent developments in our lives, we were thinking that life 25 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:27,839 Speaker 2: is short and we want to be married, Bailey said. 26 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: Those recent developments were heartbreaking re real. Lania had been 27 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 2: diagnosed with a rare sarcoma that had spread to her spine, 28 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 2: leaving her hospital bound with limited treatment options. But when 29 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 2: the prognosis felt heavy, compassion rose up. Nurse manager Matt 30 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 2: Turrey and the team at HCA Healthphone Swedish heard about 31 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 2: the couple's engagement and quietly went to work. They gathered flowers, 32 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,720 Speaker 2: arranged a space, and created a wedding free of charge 33 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 2: inside the very walls where Aliana was receiving care. There 34 00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 2: is not how a lot you can always do, Matt explained. 35 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,200 Speaker 2: So when there is something you can do, being able 36 00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 2: to put on something like this a wedding, a celebration, 37 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:05,760 Speaker 2: should you do it? And they did. When the mowner arrived, 38 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 2: it was not the spectacle many of us once dreamed 39 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:10,919 Speaker 2: of as girls, but it was holy. The bride, wrapped 40 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 2: in love more than lace, looked at Bailey and said 41 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 2: what so many of us know to be true. I 42 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 2: just feel stronger when I'm with him. The hospital staff 43 00:02:18,040 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 2: stood as witnesses stranger's turn family, reminding this couple that 44 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 2: they were not alone in their pain or their joy. 45 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 2: Aliana later reflected on the day with a soft clarity. 46 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 2: The only hardship can carve into the heart once you 47 00:02:29,800 --> 00:02:31,680 Speaker 2: find the right person. Don't let the little things get 48 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:34,119 Speaker 2: in the way, she said. Don't let the little fights 49 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:36,840 Speaker 2: slowly chip away at the magic that you found in 50 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 2: that moment. She wasn't just speaking about marriage. She was 51 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 2: speaking about life, about gratitude, about loving fiercely when we 52 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,720 Speaker 2: have breath. When asked about their wedding, Bailey said simply, 53 00:02:45,760 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 2: it wouldn't change anything. Aliana echoed him, without hesitation, me either, 54 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 2: And somehow, in that hospital room, beneath fluorescent lights and 55 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:56,360 Speaker 2: the hum of medical machines, their vows felt more real 56 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:58,919 Speaker 2: than any fairy tale, because in the end, what mattered 57 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 2: wasn't the dress or the venue. It was the sacred 58 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:03,960 Speaker 2: gift of loving the one God gave you for as 59 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,440 Speaker 2: long as you are given. Love is patient, Love is kind. 60 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 2: It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres One 61 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 2: Corinthians thirteen four through seven. Crossing guard goes the extra 62 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 2: mile and helps child across flooded waters ridden by MICHAELA. 63 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 2: Gordonny Red Budeley, Provost, Chicago. Crossing guard goes the extra 64 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:39,280 Speaker 2: mile to help kids cross the street after it flooded. 65 00:03:39,360 --> 00:03:41,200 Speaker 2: It was icy and he could have slipped himself, but 66 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 2: he didn't care. His sweet gestures touched the hearts of 67 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 2: the whole city. A water break causing flooding on the road. 68 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 2: When one kid said she didn't want to get her 69 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 2: clothes wet, the crossing guard Joe's ass carried her on 70 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 2: his shoulders across the road. When she dropped her water bottle, 71 00:03:54,720 --> 00:03:56,839 Speaker 2: he even stopped to pick it up. He also held 72 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 2: an infant for a mom while she was trying to 73 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 2: get her stroller through the It's not in the job description, 74 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 2: but I'll do just about anything with these kids, Joe said. 75 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:07,400 Speaker 2: Kids also feel safe when they see him. He puts 76 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 2: smiles on their faces too. He's one of the best employees, 77 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,480 Speaker 2: I would say a great person. One parents said, I 78 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:14,520 Speaker 2: have a lot of experience with my almost ten year old. 79 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 2: Joe explained, I look at it with these kids. I 80 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,119 Speaker 2: wouldn't treat them any different than I treat my own daughter. 81 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:21,360 Speaker 2: I just try to treat them exactly as I would 82 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:23,719 Speaker 2: treat her. Joe's been a crossing guard for four and 83 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 2: f years. He's a friendly face that everyone loves to see. 84 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 2: Some of these kids I met before they were even 85 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 2: in kindergarten. I cross their older brothers and sisters, and 86 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:34,119 Speaker 2: you get to know the parents and the family dogs. 87 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 2: And just like see these kids grow up and a 88 00:04:36,360 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 2: big smiley face staring across at you at the crosswalk 89 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 2: in the morning. It's a beautiful thing, Joe said. Joe 90 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 2: is amazed by the relationships he makes, and so are others. 91 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 2: He even helped one boy get a new bike after 92 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,279 Speaker 2: his was stolen. I love my neighbors. To me, I 93 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 2: don't think that I'm doing anything extra to help one 94 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 2: of my neighbors or someone in the city for that matter, 95 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 2: Joe said. Just love your neighbor and help out when 96 00:04:57,680 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 2: you can. The city of Chicago is truly us to 97 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,000 Speaker 2: have Joe as their nehwork he certainly deserves all the 98 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:04,640 Speaker 2: tension he gets for his efforts. 99 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:16,320 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to Story Behind podcast. 100 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,080 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined us for this week's story. 101 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 102 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes, 103 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,640 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 104 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. We'd 105 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: also love it if you'd rate us and leave us 106 00:05:34,320 --> 00:05:37,280 Speaker 1: a review. 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