upworthy

hospitals

Modern Families

Woman arranges dream wedding at hospital so her mom can walk her down the aisle

She and her fiancé planned the whole thing in just 2 weeks to make sure Mom could be there.

Canva Photos

A dream wedding is something many people fantasize about from the time they're young kids. Beyond the flowers and the dress and the table settings, we all like to envision it as a day of joy spent surrounded by the most important people in our lives; our parents being chief among them

An adult child's wedding day is an incredibly emotional milestone for any parent. In many ways it's the final stop on a long journey, in which you entrust someone else to become your child's primary caretaker. When you really stop and think about it that way, it's no wonder even the most stoic moms and dads cry like babies at their kids' weddings!

One woman is going viral for highlighting just how important it is to include Mom and Dad. She recently shared tear-jerking footage from her wedding, held at a hospital so both of her parents could be in attendance.


Giphy

Dominique Faludi got engaged to her fiance, Tom, and was exciting to dive into planning her dream wedding. But her mother's declining health made the usual wedding timeline a lot more complicated. The idea of potentially getting married without her mother there just wasn't acceptable for Faludi.

So she and her fiancé decided to do something drastic. Not only did they choose to have the wedding at the hospital where her mom was being treated, they dramatically sped up the process, throwing the entire thing together in just two weeks. Miraculously, the couple pulled it off, with stunning decor and a full audience of beloved family members in attendance — many of whom had never met! It was all a whirlwind, but it's hard to argue with the finished product.

Most important, Faludi's mother got to share an incredible moment with the bride-to-be in her hospital room, where Faludi did a surprise dress reveal. The moment was full of tears and smiles and all the love that you'd expect.

"Getting married at the hospital to have my parents walk my down the aisle was the best decision we’ve ever mad," Faludi wrote in the caption.

Watch the highlights from the special day here:

@dominiquelissa

Getting married at the hospital to have my parents walk my down the aisle was the best decision we’ve ever made🥹 cherishing these moments of joy right now.

People were incredibly moved by the footage, and by Faludi's dedication to remembering what a wedding is really all about.

Over five million people watched Faludi's clips from the wedding and surprise dress reveal. Commenters couldn't get enough:

"You and your husband are the absolute blueprint for what what marriage means and a shining light for what the day means to family. Thank you for sharing."

"As a mama. I am balling my eyes out watching this"

"I’m a wedding photographer— so many people get wrapped up in the decor and colors and so many fun things; but this is what it’s about"

"It never matters where you get married. But it always matters who’s there to share that moment."

Faludi's stunning wedding is an amazing reminder. With wedding costs ballooning completely out of control (the average wedding in the U.S. costs over $30,000), and venues and destinations and experiences becoming more and more extravagant with each passing decade, it's worth pausing to remember that the aesthetics aren't what's really important. What really matters is the people who show up. Your partner, of course, but trusted friends and closest family are just as vital. Some studies have indicated that as the cost of a wedding rises, so does the likelihood of divorce. It could be because the people who love each other the most and have a strong network of loved ones don't get nearly as caught up in the Instagrammable-ness of the wedding as some other couples might.

@dominiquelissa

Grwm & chat all things engagement and getting married in 4 days! Eeeep #engagementstory #wedding #grwm

"Whatever flowers I got, that's fine. The dress, I kind of knew what I wanted and it's perfect," Faludi said in another video. "I'm just trying to keep it all together and say yes to everything my mom wants because it is my day, but it also is her day because her whole life she's been waiting to walk me down the aisle."

Mission accomplished!

From Your Site Articles
weddings
Democracy

Doctor's viral video about being asked 'do you plan on having children?' is an eye-opener

TikTok

Dr. Pamela Mehta goes viral for highlighting gender inequality in the workplace

"Do you plan on having children?" This is absolutely, without a doubt, a very inappropriate question to be asked during a job interview. One that in no way explores a person's work relevant skills, applicable experience or career goals. And it's definitely not a common conversation starter for male applicants. It is however a question that many women, particularly those in male-dominated fields, have to put up with, even now.

Meet orthopedic surgeon, mother and viral TikTok sensation Dr. Pamela Mehta. Mehta receives glowing reviews for her work, and is mother to three children. Yes, she is both—is it that hard to fathom? Apparently, for her former employers, it was.

Dr. Mehta recently posted a TikTok video—now racking up over 16 million views—sharing her own story of gender discrimination.

After spending nine years studying, training and preparing to become an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mehta was finally able to pursue her dream job ... only to be asked a question she "knew was illegal." (And if you didn't know it was, now you do.)

This is certainly not a unique scenario. Roughly 75% of women have reported that they were asked about family life, marital status and children in interviews.



@dr.pamelamehta

My story in 48 seconds @wearfigs



Mehta knew being honest would have its unwarranted repercussions. She shared with BuzzFeed that, "I was frustrated because I knew I would be penalized for saying yes, yet I still wanted the job because it was a coveted position. I also knew the question was illegal, but that is just how it goes—a lot of questions are asked of women in the workplace that are not legal, and we just have to deal with it."

For Dr. Mehta, the grin-and-bare-it approach seemed to be the only strategy. To prove her worth, she "got there early, stayed late, never passed any work to anyone else," and even returned back to work only six weeks after the birth of her first child. That's only half the standard recommended time. And that's all unpaid in the United States, which is a completely different societal failing.

Despite her efforts, Mehta's workplace continued to prove unwelcoming and unsupportive. And after her second pregnancy, the company became toxic to the point of needing legal intervention. "They aggressively started 'pushing me out.' I had to get a lawyer," she says in her TikTok video. "They tried to ruin any future career I would have as a successful surgeon."

Comments from other working moms began pouring in to show solidarity and speak out about their own similar experiences.

One person shared: "Lost my medical career Thursday because I was pushed out."

Another replied: "Not sure how we as women are supposed to birth children but … not birth children. Someone has to do it. Why are jobs so cruel?"

Even a male commenter wrote: "I am a surgical tech and good friend with our only female ortho surgeon. They treat her like they're doing her a favor by having her. It's ridiculous."

Mehta's determination paid off, as she is now the owner of her own successful surgical practice, and has "three happy, healthy children." Add to that, social media star. Mehta has around 163K followers on her Instagram and TikTok, collectively. As "TikTok's 1st Female Orthopaedic Surgeon," Dr. Mehta uses her platform to encourage other women that a healthy work-life balance is possible, and to advocate for better maternity leave policies. Her message is simple: "Ladies, don't let anyone take your dreams and spirit away!"

Women should not have to feel powerless or alone while trying to attain both a family and a career. And as the Orthopaedic Surgeon Mama says in her BuzzFeed interview, "There will come a day when women are treated equally and respectfully in the workplace, and we will not stop until we have that equality."

That fight for equality might not be over. But victories like Mehta's are worth noting, because they move us all toward progress.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
health care
Wellness

A news crew got rare access to a hospital's ICU and revealed the actual toll of COVID-19

4 News Now/YouTube

When we hear about hospitals running out of ICU beds and having to ration care, we may erroneously picture Hollywood movie scenes with frantic healthcare workers hustling constantly with patients and crash carts being frantically wheeled around.

That kind of hectic scene might happen in a single mass tragedy event in an emergency room, but a real ICU isn't like that, even when it's full. The ICU (Intensive Care Unit) is where patients go when they are severely ill or have sustained injuries that require ongoing, life-saving care. Saving lives in the ICU is a days, weeks, and sometimes even months-long endeavor, where nurses and doctors get to know patients a little before sending them home (which is always the hope) or saying goodbye (which has happened far too often in the past 18 months).

A crew from 4 News Now in Spokane was granted rare access to the ICU at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center, where COVID-19 is taking a toll on doctors and nurses.

"We have 54 beds for adult critical care at Sacred Heart; 26 are in our general medical neuro-trauma ICU and 28 are in our cardiac ICU, but we have had to use the cardiac ICU beds also for COVID patients," ICU nurse manager Deb Gillette told 4 News Now. The hospital has also designated two additional floors for COVID patients who aren't sick enough to need ventilators.

You can hear the weariness in the voices of the doctors and nurses as they explain what they do to keep COVID patients alive and how hard the pandemic has been, even for people who are accustomed to critical care.

Watch this rare glimpse inside an ICU:

Inside the ICU: An exclusive look inside Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center's intensive carewww.youtube.com

The nurses interviewed pointed out that the age of those being admitted to the ICU has dropped from earlier in the pandemic, when it was mostly older patients. Now they're mostly seeing people in their 30s to 60s.

And the message they are sending is the same one we are hearing from ICU staff across the nation: "Get vaccinated."

"We're really trying here and the best thing our community can do is get vaccinated. We really have nothing else," nurse Emily Crews said. "That's our only solution and the more that people do that, the less time we'll spend in here, and the less time at home I'll be thinking about these people who are never going home."

This is the kind of coverage we need to see more of. When the overwhelming tragedy of the pandemic is happening inside hospital rooms where average Americans don't have access, it's far too easy to ignore numbers and pleas because it feels like it's not that bad.

It is that bad. Hospitals across the country are telling us it's bad. ICU workers are telling us it's bad. The past year and a half has been exhausting, but we can relieve some of the burden on healthcare workers by getting vaccinated as soon as we are able.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
coronavirus
Wellness

A funeral home truck in North Carolina is telling future customers not to get vaccinated

@MeidasTouch/Twitter

Since three coronavirus vaccines received emergency use authorization from the FDA early in 2021, the question of how to get a high percentage of the population vaccinated has haunted public health officials. As hospitals across the country fill with severely ill COVID-19 patients, the vast majority of whom are unvaccinated, the question remains.

A funeral home in North Carolina is taking a unique tack in advocating for vaccinations, one that's striking and to-the-point.

A truck advertised as Wilmore Funeral Home drove around Bank of America Stadium before the Carolina Panthers football game in Charlotte over the weekend, and it had a simple message: "Don't get vaccinated."

That message wouldn't be fitting from any other business, but from a funeral home, it's a morbidly appropriate joke. If you don't get vaccinated, they'll get more business. Blunt, but perhaps effective.

If you go to the Wilmore Funeral Home website, it's simply a landing page that says, "Get vaccinated. If not, see you soon." Again, blunt. If you click the "Get vaccinated" box, the page takes you to the StarMed Healthcare website where you can find places to get vaccinated in the Charlotte area.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the identity behind the truck is a mystery. There is no Wilmore Funeral Home, and StarMed Healthcare said it isn't behind it.

"If this saves one person's life by getting vaccinated, I'm 100% for it," Dr. Arin Piramzadian, chief medical officer at StarMed Healthcare, told the Observer.

"We know that 99% of people who are ending up in the hospital and dying are unvaccinated," Piramzadian said. "If that statistic does not scare people... I'm not sure what does. Perhaps a dark humor aspect such as this one does catch someone's attention."

It's hard to say what will convince people at this point, since asking nicely and asking not so nicely doesn't seem to be working, and loud and proud misinformation mongers seem to drown out legitimate educational efforts. Maybe seeing statistics from hospitals showing how many more unvaccinated patients are in the ICU will convince people. Or maybe seeing a funeral truck with an invitation to bring them more business will do it.

Either way, clever move. Well done, whoever you are.

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
coronavirus
Trending Stories