Dad at bride’s side
Nups held in hosp for cancer-ailing dad
Growing up, Elisabeth Linde never dreamed of her wedding like most little girls.
She didn’t fantasize about saying “I Do” in a big poofy dress. She didn’t get lost in thoughts about riding off into happily ever after in a horse-drawn carriage.
The Long Island woman did, however, always envision her father, Stuart, at her side on the big day.
So when a mesothelioma diagnosis rendered him bedridden at Manhattan’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center just days before her June 4, 2023, nuptials, the bride-to-be made sure her one wedding wish came true.
“I canceled my wedding and got married in my dad’s hospital room on June 3,” Linde, 31, told The Post. “My dad was one of my biggest supporters. He had to be there.”
Stuart, a family man and Wall Street executive who served as the head of equity research at Lehman Brothers and Barclays, died at 56 last June 5 — just two days after the wedding.
Joy and grief
Still processing the loss of her dad months later, Linde is now sharing videos from the emotional day — including visuals of the tearful yet glowing bride walking down a hospital hallway as her aisle and meeting groom Devin, 33, and son Gabriel, 8, at Stuart’s bedside — as a crucial step in her grieving process.
Video of the ceremony immediately went viral, with more than 53 million TikTok views since she shared it this week.
“It was surreal,” the newlywed told The Post. “My dad and I held hands.”
Linde credits Stuart, as well as her mother, Eileen, with saving both her and Devin’s lives.
“My husband and I were drug addicts,” explained the brunette. “My dad helped us get clean and stay clean.”
“He and my mom took us in, he motivated me to go back to nursing school and pursue my nurse-practitioner certification,” added Linde.
“He always made sure my son, who called him Deeda, had a good life.”
The day before Stuart died, she and Devin made a grand gesture as an expression of their eternal gratitude.
“My dad has three daughters but he always wanted a son to carry on our last name,” said Linde. “So, on June 4, we asked his permission to take the last name ‘Linde’ so that our son can be the person to do that.”
And while the harsh fluorescent lights and beige walls of most health-care centers don’t necessarily make the ideal wedding backdrop, Linde tells The Post she has no regrets.
“It was really a special and beautiful way to honor my dad,” she said.
The catering hall, as well as vendors she had booked for her canceled fete, gave her family a credit, allowing them to host a separate event at a later time.
“We didn’t lose anything from having it at the hospital,” said Linde. “We just gained this great family memory.”