One of the things I love about my job
is being able to share a heartwarming, inspiring videos
with you.
This next video of a bride dancing
with her terminally ill father was viewed over 1 million times
last week.
Take a look.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC - LEE ANN WOMACK, "I HOPE YOU DANCE"]
- (SINGING) --closes I hope one more opens.
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance.
And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance.
[END VIDEO PLAYBACK]
Well, when I learned the story behind that video,
I knew I needed to meet the bride and her husband, Mary
Bourne and James, who are in our audience.
Come on down.
[APPLAUSE]
Hi, Mary Bourne.
[INAUDIBLE]
Hi, James.
--so much.
We're--
How are you?
--incredibly happy.
So first of all, that was so beautiful.
Thank you.
And thank you so much for being here.
And so you got married three weeks ago, right?
December 29.
And you just posted it last week though?
Roughly.
Yeah, it's kind of been a whirlwind, but--
It's been a crazy few weeks.
--yes, it hasn't been up there long.
We didn't post it.
We didn't even hire a videographer.
My photographer just switched to the video mode
and then she uploaded it, I think
while we're on our honeymoon.
And we came home and we're like, what has happened?
There's 12,000 views and that's a lot of views,
and we couldn't believe that everybody watched it.
And then the next morning it was 35-ish.
And we said to each other before we were headed up to work,
it'll probably calm down at that.
And then it just kept doubling over, doubling over,
doubling over.
We couldn't believe it.
It's beautiful.
I mean, it really is beautiful.
I don't know-- you didn't seem to be crying.
I know you and your dad planned from when
you were a little girl that you were
going to dance at your wedding.
Yes.
And then he was diagnosed.
He got sick--
Yes, ma'am.
--two years ago?
Yes, May of 2017.
And so when you were going to--
did you rush the wedding?
You pushed it up so that you could have him there.
We were ready to get married, but especially
with that kind of looming, we thought
we shouldn't waste our time.
And then to us--
everybody has their own opinions,
but to us, we wanted to make sure, no matter
what, whether it was quick, short, and sweet
or a beautiful wedding like we were fortunate enough to have,
we personally wanted to make sure he was there.
Yeah.
Whether we needed to have an impromptu wedding--
if anything went bad, we were ready.
And did you know and did he know you were going
to dance like that with him?
Not really.
Me and my dad have always danced together.
But the day of the wedding after this ceremony,
he went up to his hotel room because he was just
a little tired.
And we had our first dance, he had his dance with his mom,
and then the day kind of went about.
And then an hour or so later, he gets brought into the ballroom
because he was ready, and it was so exciting.
I wasn't sure if it was going to happen.
And that song is so beautiful anyway.
I mean, it must have been really emotional for you.
And what was it like for you to watch that?
I am very emotional all the time.
And I knew during the wedding--
and her dad is a very, very emotional guy.
I was trying to not hide my tears but you know,
show her that I was OK because I didn't want
to start a downhill spiral.
Well, I did a really good job all the way
until that dance started, and I literally couldn't
see anybody but them two.
And it's till this day, the most happy, beautiful memory I have.
And I was crying.
So if you zoom in on me in the video,
I'm just tearing up back there.
Yeah, really bad.
What about you?
Well, I told my mom I'm surprised
I didn't cry because composure is not my middle name.
I'm far from that.
So I think with just the hustle bustle of the day
and my wedding planner going, it's time to cut a cake,
it's time to take these pictures, your dad showed up,
it's time to do the dance.
And I was like, OK, let's do it.
And I had done a little bit of dancing with him,
but I told him, I'll take care of it.
You don't worry about anything.
Because he was still able to stand in August.
Yes.
So that was something that you just all of a sudden
pushed him, around which it was really beautiful.
And I know that he passed away last week.
And how's the family doing now?
It's been difficult. It's been a week as of today,
so it has been a really crazy few weeks.
But one thing that we've just been so appreciative of--
you and your show-- is that this has given us
something to laugh about and smile about
and keep us kind of preoccupied and really joyful.
And it's been tough, but this part of the process
has definitely made it a little bit easier.
Well, that's great to hear.
That's--
Thank you.
So your mom is in the audience, and I
know that he was a fan of the show, you were a fan.
So you all watched together?
We did.
And it gave him something to look forward
to in the afternoons to make him laugh.
And he was such a big hearted guy and loved to laugh
and had a big heart.
So he felt a little kindred spirit with you.
Y'all are both very positive, and he was always that way.
Well, I am sure is here with us right now
with so much love in this room and talking about him
and thinking about him, so the show is dedicated to him today.
Thank you so much.
And I have a gift for you after this.
We'll be right back.
OK, so you moved from-- where were you living?
We were living in my hometown of Greensburg, North Carolina.
North Carolina.
And then you move to Alabama to care for your dad.
Yup.
We got the phone call in May 2017 that he was--
a tumor was found.
It takes the diagnosis to happen until after the brain surgery.
So we found out he had a tumor.
Not sure what the prognosis was.
But I looked at James and I was like,
I don't think I want to come back, especially--
I went home for the surgery.
To see how invasive a brain surgery is.
--surgery and--
Excuse me.
She kind of just said, hey, I'm staying here.
And I said, hey, I'll finish the bills
and I'll come right after you.
So we moved probably a month or two after the surgery.
OK, so you're--
We've been in Alabama just down the street from my parents
trying to help out as much as possible.
Well, I'm sure your mom appreciates that.
I'm sure that's a gift to have you here.
And what's next for you all?
What are you doing?
Big question mark.
The last three weeks have been so crazy.
We need to slow down and kind of think about it.
But for now, we're going to stay in Alabama with my family.
I've got four siblings and tons of nieces and nephews.
So we've got just a great community and support system.
So we'll stay there--
Will you buy a house there or--
We will.
That's the goal.
We'd love to save up and start a family
and buy a house back in Alabama where my family is.
Great.
Well, we have an early--
well, it's not early.
It's a gift for you.
And I told my friends at Cheerios
how much love that you have brought
into the world with this video, and they
want to give you $25,000.
What?
[YELLS] Oh, my god.
Thank you.
Oh, my god.
What?
Thank you.
Oh, my gosh.
I want to hear about your act of good.
Go to my website.
Tell me what you're doing.
Hi, I'm Andy.
Ellen asked me to remind you to subscribe to her channel
so you can see more awesome videos, like videos
of me getting scared or saying embarrassing things,
like ball peen hammer.
And also, some videos of Ellen and other celebrities,
if you're into that sort of thing.
Yah!
Ah!
[BLEEP] God [BLEEP]!