A kindhearted bride left her wedding day to spend 10 minutes with her beloved grandma outside her hospital after she was forced to miss the ceremony due to health reasons.
Jessica Colalillo, 24, from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, shared a special bond with her “Nonna,” Gemma Russo, 88, describing her as the “strongest lady I knew.”
Gemma’s husband passed away a month before Jessica’s mom was born, leaving her to raise three children independently and solidifying her place as the head of the family unit.
With Jessica’s parents working a lot when she was younger, Gemma helped take care of her, later attending Jessica’s bridal show and offering to pay for her wedding dress.
But as time moved closer to Jessica’s big day, her grandmother’s health started deteriorating, with Gemma suffering from a fall three weeks before the wedding.
Gemma was taken to hospital with chronic pain, and for most of the next three weeks, Jessica said, her grandmother was delirious and in much discomfort.
During the final days before the wedding, the 88-year-old’s family decided that Gemma couldn’t make the ceremony, as she could not hold herself up in a chair.
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This decision was extremely tough on Jessica, who said she was just desperate to see her Nonna somehow on her wedding day.
After the ceremony on August 26, Jessica decided to head straight to her grandma’s hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, where staff had agreed to take her outside for the big surprise.
A stunned Gemma, looking at her granddaughter leaving a bus in the wedding dress she had wanted to help with, could not hold back her emotion.
Jessica’s mom, Felicia, captured the moment on video, and her daughter later shared it on her social media channels.
Though it only lasted 10 minutes, this was a moment Jessica, whose grandmother passed away the following month, said she would cherish forever.
She said: “We were able to spend 10 mins with my Nonna, hug her, kiss her, and involve her in my special day.
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“She was so happy. She kept expressing how happy she was to see me, how beautiful I looked, and how good Adam and I looked together.
“I truly believe my Nonna fought every day to wait and see me get married and to be able to see her on my wedding day is a memory I will cherish forever.
“I was overwhelmed with emotions, and as sad as I was leading up to the day knowing she would not be there all day, I just felt fortunate and so blessed to see her waiting there for me to get off the bus.
“I am so thankful and happy I had that moment with her.”
