The internet has been reduced to tears by a video showing the moment a man who lost his daughter to breast cancer 12 years ago escorted her widowed husband's new wife down the aisle.
The clip was shared on TikTok by Hannah Bender (@hanbndr), who watched her grandad's gesture with so much love and pride. Bender's mom, Wendie, sadly passed away in 2012 from breast cancer, leaving behind her daughter and widow, David, who is Bender's stepdad.
Now 12 years later, David was ready to remarry, and the ceremony took place in Hong Kong on November 1, 2024. Ahead of the big day, the happy couple asked Bender if she'd be comfortable with her grandad (her late mother's dad) walking the bride down the aisle. She was more than happy to say yes, as she told Newsweek that it "was a full circle moment" for her family to go through.
It was such a special moment for everyone present, leaving most of the guests sobbing— including Bender, from Brussels, Belgium. However, she said she "wouldn't have wanted it any other way," and she will never forget that moving gesture.
She said: "My family is very close, and we all hold each other very near to our hearts, hence why my grandparents and parents still get along so well and see each other at every opportunity. It was so emotional and such a beautiful moment, and it meant that somehow my mum could be present too.
"It was a very emotional ceremony. One of my mum's friends came up to me after and said that she and everyone around her was crying, and that one by one all the men were putting on their sunglasses."
Through the tears, Bender captured footage of the moment her grandad and the bride walked down the makeshift aisle, arm in arm. It was such a beautiful show of love and respect, and she couldn't resist sharing it with her followers on social media. At the time of writing, the TikTok video has generated over 107,700 views and 5,200 likes, which Bender never could have imagined.
She told Newsweek: "Everyone who reacted to the video has been so full of love. I didn't realize it would touch or move that many people. I like making videos as it's kind of like keeping a digital diary, but I also knew that just sharing the video wouldn't explain the deeper sentiment behind it, hence the explanation I added on the video.
"I think it's important to remember that you don't choose blood, but you can choose who you love and who you treat like family. I think we all have respective losses and people are hurting, but opening your heart can be so fulfilling," Bender said.
Needless to say, like many of the wedding guests, the moment left plenty of internet users in tears. Plenty of TikTokers even commented on the post to praise the powerful and sentimental gesture.
One comment reads: "That's full circle acceptance and love."
Another person wrote: "Most beautiful moment!"
While one TikToker added: "I'm not crying, you're crying."
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