TEHACHAPI, Calif. (KGET) Robert Shupe and Marino Callahan had a love that bloomed quickly.
Not even a year after the two met in September 2024, they were set to get married in July. But instead of walking down the aisle hand in hand after kissing his bride, Shupe held Callahan’s hand as he lay in a hospital bed.
“I ended up not going to work because I wasn’t feeling well,” he said. “As it turned out, it was a good thing that I didn’t go in to work.”
Shupe learned at the hospital that he had suffered a stroke, just days before the couple was set to get married in his hometown of Ogden, Utah, 740 miles from Adventist Health in Bakersfield, California, where he was forced to stay and recover.
“I decided, well, surely there can’t be a wedding,” said Callahan. “And so I told my kids not to come, cancel everything, and I just figured we would get that sorted out afterwards.”
Then, after making sure Shupe was OK, Callahan had another idea.
“By the time I got there, there was this thought, ‘Gee, we see this on television quite frequently, so maybe we could do it, too. Let’s just get married in the hospital,'” she said.
It was an idea thrown at the wall just to see if it would stick, one might say. But not for Adventist Health.
“The doctor was so excited, but also taken aback, because she had never dealt with something like this herself,” said an emotional Shupe. ‘But she said, ‘If we can do it, we will.’ I think it was an hour later, we got word from the administration, and the word was, ‘We’re going to take care of you.'”
They thought it would be a small gathering with their kids and grandkids.
What actually happened was a complete wedding — with cake, flowers, guests, and even the suit and dress.
“I can’t even tell you how memorable it was,” said Callahan. “Our kids were there, grandchildren were there, and I don’t think you could have crammed anymore love into that little chapel than we did.”
“So grateful that the hospital was accommodating to us, and we were able to have this unbelievably beautiful and sacred [wedding],” said Shupe. “It was sacred to us.”
So what’s next for Mr. and Mrs. Shupe? Callahan said that once her new husband gets better, the plan is a little honeymoon road trip.
