Your wedding day is something you wait for all your life. In some cases, it's also an extremely precious day for the parents.
A dying father's wish was fulfilled recently when he got the chance to walk his 11-yar-old daughter down the aisle in a heart-breaking mock ceremony, ABC News reported.
Pronouncing the pair "daddy and daughter," 62-year-old Jim Zetz celebrated the wedding with daughter Josie on the occasion of her 11th birthday, March 14.
"It was not easy to do, let me tell you, but I wouldn't change it for the world," said Jim, from California, who has stage-4 pancreatic cancer and is expected to live only a few more months.
"In twenty years, when she really gets married, she's going to be happy that happened," he said.
The surprise wedding was planned out by a photographer close to the Zetz family in order to let Jim experience one of the most important moment in his daughter's life.
Fifty-year-old Grace Zetz, Jim's wife, called the ceremony a "beautiful" surprise.
Since it is likely that Jim won't be around due to the progression of his cancer, the milestone was celebrated early, according to ABC News.
Jim's suit, his daughter Josie's white gown, a wedding cake, catering and flowers were brought through the help of donations from Lindsay Villatoro of Love Song Photography.
"We didn't really know what was going to happen -- she put it all together in 72 hours," she said. "She came in with three truckloads of decorations for my backyard!"
Grace said the seriousness of Jim's health conditions are understood by Josie.
"The therapists recommend we use big words and make her understand that none of this is her fault," Grace said. "This is life and death and Jim has gotten a lot sicker over the past few weeks. She knows she has to be patient and it hurts."
Last October, Jim was diagnosed with "fast-growing" cancer, ABC News reported.
With doctors claiming that it was "too late to do anything," Jim decided to stop his treatment after going through three months of chemotherapy. He preferred enjoying the last months of his life.
"It's been hard, his diagnosis was an aggressive one and things have gone by so quick," Grace Zetz said. "We set goals to do so something every week."
Take a look at the beautiful pictures.
