A Miami Love Story
On November 4, 2020, Sheila and Stevans will stand before family and friends to join their lives in marriage. While the past couple of years have certainly been challenging for this sweet young couple, they could not be more excited to begin this new journey together.
Sheila and Stevans first started dating in high school. They fell for each other immediately and were together for the rest of high school and all throughout college. Once Sheila came back to Miami, they moved in together and started their careers.
In 2018, Sheila started getting sick frequently. She had been working at the time as a paralegal for a law firm and was putting in a lot of long, stressful hours. Although many of her symptoms could easily be explained away as a bad cold, she was missing a lot of work and lost hearing in one of her ears. After first visiting her primary care doctor, she was referred to an ENT, who performed an MRI on her ear. While the test was clear, she was given injections over the course of the next four months to see if they could bring back her hearing. After the injections did not work, she underwent a special surgery, which again, was unsuccessful.
At the beginning of 2019, Sheila’s doctor recommended a special hearing aid for her. Shortly after getting fit for it, she traveled to Columbia to visit her extended family. During her trip, she started experiencing terrible headaches and having vision issues. She went to the doctor and was instructed to see a specialist once she returned home. Sheila was referred to an eye institute at the University of Miami hospital where an MRI revealed a rare cancerous tumor at the base of her skull. She spent the next four days preparing for surgery to have it removed.
It was during one of the difficult days leading up to her surgery that Stevans decided to propose. His proposal brought some much-needed joy and hope to their family. 2 days later, Sheila began the first of 2 very complicated surgeries to remove her brain tumor. The first surgery was 6 hours long, the second was 19. While the surgeries went well overall, they were only able to remove about 70% of the tumor, leaving Sheila facing a very difficult recovery. After getting out the ICU, she had to learn how to walk, swallow and live normal life again. She underwent months and months of intense rehab, followed by chemotherapy and radiation.
While the tumor has stabilized for now, the treatment has taken a significant toll on Sheila. She’s been in and out of the hospital numerous times this past year and has struggled to regain her voice, strength and mobility.
We were thrilled to get to know this couple over the past year and fell in love with their beautiful hearts and tenacious spirits. While COVID has certainly made the wedding planning process more complicated, we are so excited to finally be able to grant this wish.
We’ve teamed up with our new friend, Lina Bender of Lina Bender Events and have been so thankful for her incredible hard work over this past year. Lina has lined up a spectacular group of wish granters who have showered us with generosity. We cannot wait to see this wish unfold and to bless Sheila and Stevans with all of the love.
Planner: Lina Bender Events
Venue: The Historic Walton House
Catering: Alexander Event Catering
Floral: EC Floral Design and Events
Photography: Leo Photographer
DJ: MPE Event Group
Violinist: Carlos Florat
Stationery: The Invitorium
Makeup: Luis Enrique Urbano Makeup Artist
Officiant: Adri Camacho
Cake: Ana Paz Cakes
Linens: Nuage Designs
