A year to the day after Dennis Gregory thought he had lost the opportunity to dance with his daughter at her wedding, his daughter Sarah remedied the situation by having a special father/daughter dance at Lake Sumter Landing Market Square on her one-year anniversary.
“All while she was growing up, she and her Dad would talk about what song they would dance to at her wedding,” said Dennis’s wife Kathy.
As Sarah’s wedding approached Dennis became ill and there was even consideration of having the ceremony at the VA Hospital in Gainesville. His illness was due to complications from Agent Orange during his time in Vietnam. Determined to be there, Dennis got better and went home only to become really sick and admitted back in the hospital the Sunday before the wedding. Dennis was given a one-day furlough to attend the wedding. Unfortunately, shortly after the ceremony Dennis became so ill he had to leave the wedding, missing most of the reception.
A week after the wedding, he had surgery to amputate his leg. Complications from the anesthesia during surgery left him with no voice. Two surgeries later Dennis has his voice back and he started wearing a prosthetic leg in July. Going to the gym five times a week with the help of a friend before he could drive his golf cart really helped Dennis.
“He never complains,” said Kathy, “He says you deal with what you’ve got and move on.”
Dennis had joined the Air Force and volunteered to go to Vietnam.
“The support from your friends in The Villages is amazing,” said Kathy. She and Dennis are residents of the Village of St. James.
“His friend came over every day packed his scooter in his car and they went to the gym,” said Kathy.
She said the wedding last November wouldn’t have happened without the support of her friends helping her and decorating while she was with Dennis in the hospital.
As Dennis continued to improve, Sarah came up with the idea to recreate the father/daughter dance on her one-year anniversary. As soon as she saw who was playing at the square on Nov. 5, she made contact with DJ Joe Carter. He was happy to help her make it happen.
Kathy and Dennis were to meet Sarah and her husband Flint at the square for ice cream following the couple’s anniversary dinner. At least that is what Dennis thought.
While waiting at the square for Sarah and Flint, Dennis commented to Kathy how funny it was to see so many friends and neighbors at the square. Meanwhile, Sarah in her wedding dress was behind the stage. The DJ announced Sarah, and Dennis assumed they were announcing her anniversary. Then he heard “Vietnam veteran” announced, and then he heard the DJ ask the crowd to clear the floor for a father/daughter dance as Sarah came around in her wedding dress.
“He was blown away, just shocked,”said Kathy. Admitting at first she wasn’t sure about Sarah doing it in her wedding dress, “but when I saw it, it was just perfect, so emotional.”
Father and daughter danced to My Wish by Rascal Flatts.
“We had over 50 friends stop what they were doing, rearrange plans to come and share in this moment,” said Kathy.
Following the dance they went home to cut the cake and have a champagne toast, recreating all the moments Dennis missed.
Last November, Dennis was in a wheelchair very ill and although it hasn’t been an easy road, this November he was dancing at the square with his daughter.
