Bride dies during first dance as husband and wife

[Maraya1969]

I guess this is a reminder to live each day to the fullest

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DAVIE, Fla. - Kim Sjostrom wanted a real-life version of the film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which played in the background as friends fixed her hair and makeup before her own marriage ceremony.
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But less than an hour after she and Teddy Efkarpides were wed, Sjostrom crumpled in her husband's arms during a Greek song that means "Love Me."

At 36, Sjostrom was dead from heart disease.

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During the couple's first dance, Sjostrom complained of being lightheaded. Efkarpides thought his wife, a diabetic, needed sugar, but she collapsed.

Wedding guests, paramedics and doctors at a nearby hospital were unable to revive her.

She had a previous cardiac episode in her 20s and was a poster child — literally — for juvenile diabetes, relatives and friends said. Efkarpides recalled seeing the poster featuring her on New York subways.

He consoles himself by reading a list of "101 Reasons Why I Love You" that Sjostrom gave him their first Christmas together. "Number 1. You make me smile."

No. 98 is especially difficult: "You're the one I want to grow old with."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080210/ap_on_re_us/wedding_death

[liberalhistorian]

1. I read about this last night, how heartbreaking!

I just got married this past November and I was thinking about our wedding and reception dinner while I was reading about this (hubby and I are older than the bride and groom in this case).

You really do never know what will happen when, or when the last time you'll see someone is. I try to remember that with my husband and not get so caught up in the hassle of daily life that I don't appreciate every day with him. We know in the abstract that people can die at any time, that they can be alive one moment and gone the next and often with no warning. But it's getting ourselves to really recognize that, literally, that's hard. It's hard because we have to face our own mortality, and the possibility of our own sudden death at any time, as well and we don't want to do that, understandably.

My heart breaks for this groom and for her family. Can't imagine what they're going through.

[Solly Mack]

2. :(

[gollygee]

3. Oh wow :(

that is so terribly sad. :(

[iamthebandfanman]

4. wow

cant believe noone was aware of the condition. crazy.

[bdamomma]

5. oh that's so sad

:-(

[NorthernSpy]

6. what a shitty disease

:cry:

[GCP]

7. How very sad

As was said upthread, we can never know what's in store for our loved ones or for ourselves. I try and treat my family as if today's our last day together. Morbid I know, but I've seen too many sudden deaths to be complacent.

[malaise]

8. Damn this is sad

:cry:

[caty]

9. We've lost

two members of our family since November. It's true. Sometimes it happens with warning, sometimes it doesn't. Such a sad story for someone so young.

[CraftyGal]

10. Wow

that why I try to tell and show TrogL that I love him each and everyday. We are an older couple so that is something we could deal with especially with my health.

Crafty

[Arugula Latte]

11. Damn. Just Damn.

:(