Daily Herald opinion: ‘A blessed man’: An impromptu hospital wedding and a father’s gratitude remind us of the power of love

In a week filled with angry, politically charged rhetoric and actions, a wedding in an Arlington Heights butterfly garden and a father’s touching words of gratitude brought us much-needed reminders of the power of generosity and love.

As our Christopher Placek reported last week, a 66-year-old Rolling Meadows man battling pancreatic cancer for nearly two years got the chance to accompany his daughter down the aisle — his greatest wish — thanks to his family and the dedicated staff of Northwest Community Hospital.

Throughout his treatment, including 40 rounds of chemotherapy and surgery, Benway hoped to attend daughter Grace’s wedding in Colorado on Oct. 4. But his cancer progressed to stage 4, and he was admitted to Northwest Community Sept. 12.

Unable to travel, it looked like he would not be there when Grace and fiance Thomas Decourcey exchanged their vows. But that changed last Wednesday when the couple came to visit from Colorado.

They landed at O’Hare International Airport around 3 that day, arriving at the hospital at 4:30 p.m. By 5, they had decided to make Benway’s wish come true: Grace and Thomas would have a wedding at the hospital the next day.

Grace rushed out to buy a dress while hospital nurses and other staff made the arrangements, including finding a guitar player for the ceremony.

Benway asked hospital chaplain Wilson Angumei to officiate.

The next day, less than 24 hours after planning began, nurses and doctors joined family and close friends to be there when Benway — dressed in a suit and tie, a boutonniere pinned to his lapel — was wheeled to the garden to be beside his daughter on her wedding day.

“I’m a blessed man,” Benway said that afternoon. “I couldn’t be more blessed.”

Amid his health struggles, amid disappointment about his inability to travel to the Oct. 4 wedding, Benway found joy thanks to Grace, Thomas and a caring hospital staff that went above and beyond to make the day special for father and daughter.

They gave us joy as well when we needed it most.

We send best wishes to Benway, his daughter and her new husband. And we send thanks to all at Northwest Community who came together to plan a wedding in a single day.

Benway, despite all he has been through, speaks of being “a blessed man.”

In doing so, he reminds us to count our blessings as well.