When Stephanie Elizabeth Kanani Morrison married Scott Matthew Platt last month in Hawaii, she was more than happy to share the limelight with another woman — a maternal aunt, Frances Nora Wilsey, whom she cares for full time.
Both Ms. Morrison and Ms. Wilsey walked down the aisle at the Kualoa Ranch on the island of Oahu wearing white dresses. “She was not only my maid of honor but someone I also wanted to celebrate as if she were a bride herself,” Ms. Morrison said. “In addition to walking me down the aisle, I wanted her to have the chance to walk on her own.”
Ms. Wilsey suffers from Williams syndrome, which causes developmental delays and other health issues necessitating round-the-clock care.
On June 19, 2020, Ms. Morrison left her job as a public defender in Nashville to move home with her mother in Cape May, N.J., to help with Ms. Wilsey’s care. “I had reached a burnout point,” she said. “As much as I loved my clients, I asked myself, ‘Am I going to help these people or help my family?’ I realized no measure of success could be as important as spending time with Fran. She is so funny. She is just pure joy.”
ImageFrances Nora Wilsey, a maternal aunt of Ms. Morrison and her maid of honor, walked down the aisle.Credit...Katrina Marie PhotographyImageThe bride and groom met more than four years ago through the dating app Hinge.Credit...Katrina Marie PhotographyTo keep busy during the pandemic, Ms. Morrison started a 10-episode weekly podcast that July with Ms. Wilsey, called “Fran Says,” exploring various topics unfiltered. About a year later, when the world finally began opening up, Ms. Morrison and some college friends made a weekend trip to upstate New York, in the Adirondack Mountains.
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Over the years, Ms. Judd told her son extremely little about her missing husband, who remained unaccounted for until May of this year. The Defense Department said earlier this month that her husband, Staff Sgt. John A. Tarbert of the Air Force was killed at 24 after his plane was attacked while flying over Germany 80 years ago this Friday.
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