A one-time Newfoundland bride-to-be has been showered with a public show of support after going on her honeymoon alone.
Laura Murphy’s husband-to-be, Devon O’Grady, died suddenly in May following a cardiac issue — just one month before they were to wed.
A grief-stricken Murphy chose to continue with the honeymoon the pair had planned across Europe. She has been documenting her solo travels in London and Nice on the social-media app TikTok.
Murphy, a lawyer, was even joined by her maid of honour in France as part of her travels, the U.K. Mirror reported.
TikTokers were quick to heap praise on Murphy for her decision, which she said followed “feeling guilty” for not living her life knowing her late husband-to-be would want her to.
While enjoying the sights on her trip, Murphy admitted there have been plenty of tears along the way, saying she has crawled into bed for a “good cry” some nights.
“It’s very out of character for me to be travelling alone and it’s even more out of character to be documenting it for the world,” she said.
Murphy met O’Grady through work when she got stuck in a stairwell in the building and he came to help her, leading to a friendship that eventually blossomed into romance. O’Grady was in the office across from Murphy’s when he died.
Murphy has gained followers on TikTok who have shared their own experiences, helping her to feel less alone.
“It’s very lonely and isolating because I knew no one my age who had lost a partner,” she told the Washington Post. “I needed to find people who could relate because I wanted to know how to go on.”
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It’s not the only emotional circumstance involving a newlywed in Atlantic Canada. In Labrador, a mom’s dying wish to see her daughter get married prompted a couple to host a wedding in a hospital.
Sabina Hunter died at the Labrador Health Centre on Sept. 10, shortly after her daughter Renata Russell married Draper Russell, CBC News reported.
The couple had their wedding at Hunter’s bedside, allowing her to witness it.
The pair were engaged a decade ago and have two kids together.
“She bought my wedding dress at least 10 years ago … She’s been waiting for it,” Renata told CBC News.
It was her mother’s final wish to give her away at the wedding.
“And that’s what we did,” Renata said.