A Texas high school senior walked a hospital hallway in her graduation gown instead of crossing a stage so her dying father could watch her receive her diploma.
For every graduate their graduation day is the day it all finally pays off. The late nights. The hard work. The moments we weren’t sure we could push through. And when that day comes our parents are there. Our friends are there. Everyone who believed in us is packed into that room watching us walk across that stage. That’s our moment and we want the people we love right there with us to see it.
But Ruth Valdez had a different picture this year.
Ruth Valdez is a senior at San Benito High School in Texas. Her father Edgar has been fighting Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and has spent the last three and a half months at Valley Baptist Health System in Harlingen. He’s been in hospice care. Ruth still had to finish school through all of that.
“I would always think about it. I was like am I gonna make it? I want to be here,” Ruth said.
She made it.
The San Benito Independent School District and Valley Baptist Health System worked together to bring the graduation to Edgar’s room.
Ruth put on her purple and yellow gown and walked that hospital hallway instead of a stage. Her mother Mayra wasn’t even sure Edgar would be awake for it.
“He’s had good days and bad days,” Mayra said.
He was awake. He saw her do it.
Ruth opened up about that big moment.
“I was overjoyed. I mean to be able to hug my dad.”
Mayra looked at her daughter and said “She did it and there are still so many things she has yet to achieve. I am very proud of her.”
Ruth said “A great memory to have before anything. To be able to spend time with my dad on a day like that it really mattered. It mattered a lot.”
The family said their faith has carried them through all of this. They are holding on and trusting God for whatever comes next.
Please keep the Valdez family in your prayers. Edgar is still fighting and this family needs every bit of strength and peace God can give them right now.
WATCH: Texas Senior Walks Hospital Hallway in Graduation Gown for Her Dying Dad
