Ashley and her sister, Hannah, are inseparable.
Hannah has down syndrome, and Ashley has always helped care for her. Neither can imagine life without the other. Ashley will have to help care for Hannah for the rest of her life, so when she and her boyfriend, Will, started talking about marriage, she joked that he would have to marry her sister, as well.
Will and Ashley had been together for years, so he knew how much Hannah depended on her.
He was used to having Hannah around and including her in so many of the things he and Ashley did, so he wasn’t at all shocked to hear her say that.
When it came time to finally propose to Ashley, he also set up a special proposal for Hannah. Of course, he asked Ashley to marry him, but he also asked Hannah to be his best friend forever. Hannah was thrilled and, of course, accepted his proposal right away. Ashley accepted, as well. How could she turn down a guy who was willing to do something like that for her sister?
Ashley said:
“She was so excited, and I looked at Will and said, ‘I’m probably next, right?’”
That wasn’t enough, though.
On their wedding day, Will also wanted to make sure Hannah knew how special she was to him, so he not only wrote vows to his wife but best friend vows to Hannah, as well. He wrote:
“Hannah, I’m thankful that you’re my sister and my best friend. I promise to take you fishing, tell you plenty of funny jokes, and, most importantly, I promise to always look out for you.”
Will has always known that Hannah was part of the package, and he was perfectly fine with bringing her into their lives.
Ashley appreciates how much Will has stepped up to help her sister, and she knows that his love must be very strong.
She added:
“Hannah will always have to be dependent, so it was one of those things where I was so glad he went out of his way to include her. She’ll never be able to live alone. When my parents get older and can’t care for Hannah, she will be under my care.”
Ashley wanted Hannah to have a big part in the wedding, and she wanted to make her feel special, too.
Instead of focusing on details like the décor, venue, and seating, Ashley and Will wanted to make the wedding about friendship and real, unconditional love.
Ashley added:
“Weddings aren’t all about love and lust and everything. It’s about bringing two families together. I’m bringing Hannah as my family into this.”
Most brides wouldn’t want to share their wedding day with their sister, but Ashley couldn’t imagine hers being any other way. She said:
“It doesn’t even cross my mind to think that I’d want it by myself.”
Hannah is a lucky girl to have such caring people in her life.
Ashley is also lucky to have a husband who accepts her sister and their bond. Not many grooms would propose or write vows to two women on their wedding day, but Will doesn’t mind at all.
Ashley said:
“I wanted to share everything with Hannah. She was more than just a bridesmaid. I wanted her to feel like she stood out. We didn’t take anything away from the day; we gained.”
After their wedding, Ashley and Will built a home next to Ashley’s parents.
This allows them to live on their own but also be close to Hannah. Hannah gets to visit whenever she wants to see her sister and her best friend.
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