Woman fulfills decades-old dream to be a flower girl thanks to unexpected friendship: "Finally got my wish"
An unexpected friendship between two strangers helped fulfill a decades-old wish for a Minnesota woman.
Earlier this year, Marianne Baumgarten wrote a letter to CBS News contributor David Begnaud. The now 90-year-old explained how she was holding on to her dream to be a flower girl for 80 years.
When she was 8 years old, Baumgarten was supposed to be the flower girl in a family wedding.
"You can't imagine how so disappointed I was when I came down with measles just before the wedding. I couldn't even be consoled," she explained in her letter.
She never expected her dream would be achieved decades later.
"I finally got my wish"
During the COVID pandemic in 2020, Baumgarten would connect with people on the neighborhood social network app Nextdoor and ask if anyone would be willing to help get her groceries.
"Being in my 80s, I did not want to, you know, have contact with anybody. So that's how I survived," she said.
Each week, Elizabeth Judd would answer the call.
"So a lot of this story has to do with COVID. The whole world shut down within six months of me moving to a place where I didn't know anyone," Judd said. "[I} became aware of the Nextdoor app and that's ultimately the post that I responded to."
Judd said she knew Baumgarten was a mother and parenthood was a journey she was about to embark on. She had a little girl in 2021 and last year she and her fiancé decided to get married.
"She asked me to be a flower girl and walk down the aisle with her 3-year-old daughter. So, 80 years after not being a flower girl I finally got my wish at 88 years," Baumgarten said.
The big day took a little strategizing as Baumgarten walked down the aisle with Judd's daughter, Willa.
"I said, 'Willa, let's pretend we're turtles and we'll walk real slow' – that was the rehearsal," Baumgarten explained. "To be a flower girl at my special friend's wedding was really thrilling!"
For Judd, she hopes people can take away a simple message from their story, "If you see a need, how much does it really take away from your life to be able to fulfill that?"
She added she's incredibly grateful for the connection and friendship she made from what started as an act of kindness during an uncertain time.
"I've always described Willa, my daughter, as sort of being the heartbeat at my feet and this woman is part of the same," Judd said. "It's important that people ... you know, that you make connections and Marianne has been my best friend here since we've been here."
