Photo Credit: Reflections Creative Photography

May 1, 2013 was just a normal day at work — or so I thought, until I got a phone call from a family member who told me that my father, Walter Schupp, Jr., had suffered a massive stroke and was in critical condition. I was in shock: He's only 47 years old! I rushed out of work and met him at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where he was being transferred. When I saw him, he couldn't speak, couldn't move anything on the right side of his body, and was highly cognitively-impaired. I was terrified, and it was difficult for me to even look at him. The doctors took me aside and told me that it didn't look good, especially since he'd had his stroke over six hours prior to being transferred. 

My family and I were left with a very important, life-changing decision. The doctors gave us two choices: Leave him on life support (in which case he would be a vegetable for the rest of his life), or have the doctors perform a highly risky procedure that wasn't recommended to be done past a certain amount of hours (and he far exceeded those hours). They told us that he may or may not make it out of the procedure alive, and that if he did make it out, they weren't sure if the procedure would even help.

Last Friday was the big day — our engagement party! I can’t even imagine what I’m going to feel like on my wedding day. I woke up extra early to pack everything up while Rene picked up the flower centerpieces from the florist and the empanadas we made for the party. I had a make-up appointment at 2:30 and a hair appointment at 3:45, and before I knew it, it was time to leave.

My dress from Rent the Runway arrived on Wednesday, and I absolutely loved it. I ordered a size 14 and a size 16, and I ended up wearing the 16. The straps and chest area was a little big, but it gave me enough room to breathe and not worry about anything. The back-up dress I had purchased (just in case the Rent the Runway dress didn't work out) was a size 14, and that fit me perfectly as well. I don’t even remember the last time I was able to zip up a 14 without worrying it was going to bust open! From now on, the sizes will just keep getting smaller, and that is a really good feeling.

It’s a given that in these months before you take that walk down the aisle, you’re fully immersed in all things bridal: Find a dress, book a site, research and hire vendors, choose your wedding party — the list goes on and on. But in the midst of all these pre-wedding-day activities it’s easy to lose sight of what your wedding really means: You and your fiancé will be married and will exchange vows to love one another “‘til death do us part.”

Of course, a long-lasting, happy marriage is the ideal, but reality guarantees that it can also be challenging and overwhelming at times — which is why I always recommend that couples do some pre-marriage prep along with their pre-wedding-day prep. You and your future husband should take the time now, if you haven’t already, to talk openly and honestly about your plans and expectations for married life. What To Do Before You Say “I Do”, a new book by Susan Ziggy, came across my desk recently, and it’s a great read. As Susan says, “Relationships really are jobs. You have to show up every day and pay attention to what is required…getting through the hard stuff can make it better in the end. A long term relationship is priceless, divorce isn’t!”