After losing a whopping 80 pounds in just one year, a woman found her 28-year-old wedding dress while clearing away clutter just one day before she was scheduled for surgery. She tried it on and unveiled it to her husband who had the most unexpected reaction.
Chris and Terri Worron live in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, where they were both born and raised. Together they have two daughters, aged 24 and 21. Mr. Worron, 56, is a service manager, and Mrs. Worron, 53, owns a home decor and fragrance business.
In early 2022, Mrs. Worron developed gallstones. She and her family overhauled their diet, eliminating oils, fats, dairy, refined sugars, and processed foods—and the mom of two dropped from 200 pounds to just over 120 pounds.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, there were long delays in scheduling Mrs. Worron’s gallbladder removal surgery. However, she finally received a date in July 2023.
The day before the surgery, she discovered her wedding dress in a box while clearing out her closet and had the impulse to try it on.
“With how much weight I‘d lost, I’d actually talked about it with my daughters, like, ‘I should really try my wedding dress to see if it fits,’” Mrs. Worron told The Epoch Times. “It was in amazing condition after all those years ... I put it on and shuffled myself to the bathroom to go take a look.”
Mrs. Worron’s youngest daughter had tried on the wedding dress when she was 10 years old. “We took pictures and stuff, but I couldn’t get it on,” Mrs. Worron said.
This time, she had no such trouble.
“My youngest daughter was also there when I put the dress on, she helped zip me up,” Mrs. Worron said. “It was very mixed emotions. ... [I was] excited that it fit and that it was actually a little too big. ... then also, at the same time, I felt like, ‘Oh my gosh! I’m so old ... My hair matches my dress!’”
The Worrons’ eldest daughter was downstairs with her father and “kind of knew something was going on.” Their youngest called for Mr. Worron to come upstairs, and when he obliged, she filmed his priceless reaction and shared it on social media.
“I’m thinking they needed help moving something,” Mr. Worron told The Epoch Times. “I walk up and go to the bedroom and see Terri standing in her wedding dress, and it’s like, oh my god, just the love of my life standing there.”
Trying on her wedding dress after 28 years and reliving a precious memory helped Mrs. Worron “have a more positive outlook” going into her surgery the next day.
“I felt really good about myself,” she said. “Then, of course, waking up the next morning, and it was almost at a million views. We were like, what is happening?”
The Worrons first met at a bar in Niagara Falls, New York, in 1989. Mr. Worron’s friend had “chickened out” of asking Mrs. Worron to dance, so Mr. Worron stepped in. His future bride wrote her number on his hand before leaving the bar.
“I got in the car with my girlfriends, and I’m like, ‘I think I just met the guy I’m going to marry,’” Mrs. Worron said.
Their relationship blossomed, and Mr. Worron proposed in 1993 when the couple was getting ready to attend a formal dance. They tied the knot two years later on May 27, 1995.
Having found the dress of her dreams, Mrs. Worron couldn’t wait to wear it.
“My mom had it hanging in her room. She had to get a hook for the ceiling to hang it because it was so long,” she said. “It had poofy shoulders, kind of off-the-shoulder, a sweetheart neckline, lots of lace and beading on it, satin material underneath ... the ‘90s big giant bow on the back, which was great.”
Walking down the aisle on her wedding day, Mrs. Worron couldn’t hold back her tears when she saw that her groom was crying.
“It was very emotional, marrying someone that you’re planning to spend the rest of your life with,” Mr. Worron said.
The couple stayed true to their marital vows when life brought challenges. In 2014, Mrs. Worron was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and three years later, with gluten intolerance. The whole family had to overhaul their food buying, cooking, and eating habits, and it wasn’t easy.
During the pandemic, Mrs. Worron was “eating horribly.” By the winter of 2021, she was experiencing discomfort that turned out to be gallstones. Despite making the shift to healthier plant-based meals to prevent gallstone attacks, it was an avocado salad that sent her to the emergency room.
“It’s very high fat,” she said. “I learned a lot really quickly, that in order for me to not have gallstone attacks, I needed to change my diet with the help of the doctor.”
Mrs. Worron had her gallbladder removed in July 2023. Due to rapid weight loss, she ended up with a lot of loose skin and has since struggled to put on weight. However, she has noticed several benefits to shedding 80 pounds.
“I have more flexibility, my joints don’t hurt, my back used to kill me all the time. I used to have headaches all the time. All of that’s improved. I definitely have a little bit more energy at times than I did before,” she said.
Mrs. Worron credited her husband for being a big support through the weight loss journey.
“We’ve learned through this journey that I’m not alone in this,” she said. “He’s got my back and vice versa; in whatever struggles he goes through, he’s not alone.”
To anyone struggling with their health, Mrs. Worron advises: Ask your doctors lots of questions, advocate for yourself, and reach out to other people who have experienced something similar.
Meanwhile, with years of marriage under her belt, Mrs. Worron has learned that “having expectations on each other without communication is going to be the downfall.”
Through all the ups and downs, it’s essential to remember you’re a team.
“You chose to be together,” she said. “Make memories and make time for each other. ... Even if it’s just quietly driving in the car, it’s together. ... there are going to be challenges, and throwing in the towel isn’t going to make the challenges less difficult. You just have to embrace them.”
She even advises other wives to dig out their own wedding dresses.
