In addition to a writer, I'm a photographer too and I'm always scouring the Internet for good photos. I found this photo essay a while back and have been haunted by it ever since. I visit it every few months or so but not too often because it's so bittersweet, I can hardly handle looking at it. It's the story of Katie Kirkpatrick, a young woman whose body was ravished with cancer by the time her intended wedding day started getting close. Knowing it would probably be the last celebration of her life, she decided to go ahead with the wedding and marry her high school sweetheart, Nick Godwin. Weak, frighteningly thin, in constant overwhelming pain and in need of constant medical attention, she walked down the aisle, professed her undying devotion to the love of her life and spent an evening surrounded by friends and family who loved her the most. She didn't let her disease get in the way of her dream to one day have that fairy-tale wedding.

She passed away five days later.

One lucky couple was chosen -- from a pool of more than 450 couples who competed in ESPN's Marriage Madness competition -- as winner of the ultimate ESPN sports wedding. With listeners of the Mike & Mike in the Morning national TV and radio show as voters, Catherine and Jason West, now husband and wife, were married May 26, 2006 on ESPN. Noteworthy is the fact that both Catherine and Jason are die-hard University of Florida Gator fans -- they met at a Gator tailgating party and were engaged at Lake Alice, a popular outdoor spot on campus. The bride wore crystal Gator beadwork on her gown and the groom's tuxedo jacket was lined in Gator orange. The maid of honor wore a Gator blue dress and carried an orange bouquet. The wedding vows included the traditional messages of love, honor, and respect -- but some sports twists were sprinkled in too. The Wests took away a check for $20,000, compliments of hosts Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic, and they will soon head off on an all-expense paid sports-inspired honeymoon.

This wedding is inspired not just by sports.  It is also inspired by cancer survival. Catherine -- who became engaged on the one-year anniversary of her first breast cancer surgery -- is now in full cancer remission. And a $2,500 donation was made in the couple's name to the V Foundation, a cancer fund in memory of Jim Valvano, a former North Carolina State basketball coach and ESPN broadcaster. This is surely an event to remember.