Mom with Stage 4 Cancer Renews Vows with College Sweetheart. Their 5-Year-Old Son Walks Her Down the Aisle (Exclusive)

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26-05-2025

Jordan and John Groom, both 29, celebrated their vow renewal in California earlier this month while she faces cancer
'We wanted a moment of brightness for our family and friends to remember," Jordan says of the ceremony, which was organized by nonprofit Wish Upon a Wedding
'I know it sounds cliché, but I've never seen a couple that embodies love as much as they do,' a longtime friend gushesEditor's note: Johnny Dodd, a senior writer at PEOPLE, first began covering Chicago-based nonprofit Wish Upon a Wedding last year.
Earlier this month, he attended one of the ceremonies they organize for terminal and seriously ill couples, speaking with the family and organizers. This is the their story.
A misty drizzle was falling one recent afternoon as I stood in a patch of walnut trees 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. I'd come there to watch the vow renewal ceremony of two 29-year-old college sweethearts — Jordan and John Groom — who have spent the past two years grappling with the kind of nightmare that none of us would ever want to face.
Jordan was diagnosed with stage 4 anal cancer that has spread to her lungs and the lymph nodes around her pelvis.
And on May 7, while the rest of the world went about its business, the couple — along with friends and family members — gathered under a dark gray sky to renew their vows and celebrate their love for one another with those who have stood by them during this often-bleak chapter of their lives.
'I might not be here much longer,' Jordan said a few minutes before the start of the ceremony at a venue known as The Walnut Grove in Moorpark, Calif.
'We wanted a moment of brightness for our family and friends to remember," she added. "So many people have sacrificed and given us so much during this tough time we've been going through. This is a way for us to celebrate each other, along with our whole support system.'
Not surprising to anyone who knows the bubbly couple, the ceremony — which included their 5-year-old son, Noah, walking Jordan down the aisle — was cheery and light, despite the weather and the circumstances.
Those in attendance gushed over the Grooms' deep love and dedication to one another.
'I know it sounds cliché, but I've never seen a couple that embodies love as much as they do,' said longtime friend Jackie Quzman. 'It makes me emotional just thinking about it. Even on the really rough days where there's nothing positive to think about, they always support each other. It's really beautiful.'
Married for seven years after first meeting during their freshman year at Azusa Pacific University ('I knew I'd kick myself,' John recalled, 'if I didn't ask her out'), Jordan insists now that she can't imagine going through cancer without John, a self-confessed Pokémon and Dungeons & Dragons fanatic.
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'He's been such a rock,' she said of her husband, who has become her full-time caregiver. 'I know I can count on him no matter what. He's really funny and such a nerd.'
After Jordan was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in 2023, the couple said the disease progressed to stage 4 after they had already spent months trying get the necessary authorization for surgery from their health insurance company.
'That,' admitted Jordan, who is currently undergoing chemo therapy and will be undergoing surgery to remove the initial tumor in early June, 'was so hard to hear.'
But the hardship also brought the couple — who often finish each other's sentences — closer.
'No matter what we go through, so many personal struggles and financial difficulties, we just keep getting tied tighter and tighter together,' said John.
Jordan agreed, adding: 'We've definitely had our low points and, over the past two years, we've argued more than we ever have out of sheer exhaustion. But we've never gone to bed angry.'
The ceremony was set into motion by the Chicago-based nonprofit Wish Upon a Wedding, which Jordan learned about through one of the numerous cancer support groups she's involved with.
The organization helps throw free weddings and vow renewals to couples who are facing a terminal illness or a life-altering health circumstance. Since 2009, they have provided more than 300 ceremonies around the nation by working with local wedding industry professionals who donate everything from catered food and wedding attire to a venue, videographers and DJs.
'When you're going through a tragedy, you just need someone to walk into your darkness and do something nice for you," the group's executive director, Lacey Wicksall, said. "And that's what we're here to do — to just provide a respite in the middle of the storm.'
More than 20 vendors worked together and donated their services for the Grooms' event this month, including Generation Tux, which has provided nearly 200 tuxedos for Wish Upon a Wedding's ceremonies over the past three years.
'Everyone deserves to celebrate love and their love story,' said Generation Tux's vice president, Chris Lorenzo, who outfitted John in his hunter green-colored tuxedo. 'And they should get to do that in style regardless of their situation, especially couples facing life altering circumstances.'
The nonprofit's mission of bringing some much-needed cheer into the lives of those grappling with terminal illnesses was hardly lost on the Southern California-based wedding planner and officiant for the vow renewal ceremony, both of whom are cancer survivors.
'It's very easy to go to a dark place when you have a serious diagnosis,' said lead planner Penelope Lopez-Contreras of Events LC. 'Helping them celebrate their love surrounded by their loved ones is a great way to continue the fight.'
'As a leukemia survivor, I know what the battle is like and how dark it can be," added officiant Danny Bardales. "That's why I'm here and honored to give back.'
The ceremony and after-party, the grateful couple said, was just what they need to get them ready for their next challenge: Jordan's upcoming major surgery at City of Hope, a cancer research and treatment center in Southern California, to remove her original tumor.
'I'm still not out of the woods,' Jordan said. 'But our outlook is a lot brighter than it was a year ago.'
Read the original article on People