Reader's Digest Australia Feb/Mar 2026

CAWOOD CAPTURES (2) K risten Kruse knew better than most that her friend of 20-plus years, Stephanie Zimmerer, was not one to drop everything and travel 1,500 miles on a whim. But then she Answers theCall called Zimmerer with startling news. Her mother, Sandra Thompson, who had been diagnosed with Stage 4 can- cer two years earlier, had just days to live. Her last wish: to see Kruse marry her longtime partner, Tyler Butler. They have two kids together; neither had been in a rush to tie the knot. But fulfilling her mother’s wish was now top of mind, so Kruse frantically tried to pull together a wedding ceremony in just three days. Though she desper- ately wanted her friend close by, seeing how fast things were moving, Kruse told Zimmerer to forget about coming to the wedding but asked her to please watch the ceremony on FaceTime from her home in Nebraska. If she couldn’t be there physically, she could be there in spirit. Zimmerer said no, she wouldn’t watch the ceremony on FaceTime. But she would fly down for the wedding. “I just wanted to bring any bit of joy I could to a somber time,” Zimmerer told People magazine. A couple of days later, Zimmerer flew to Florida. After a long, emotional embrace that featured plenty of tears, Kruse put her friend to work. After all, they had a wedding to put on. Zim- merer ran numerous errands andmade sure Kruse had everything she needed, from the big stuff to the small, like toothpaste. On the big day, she served as the usher, showing guests to their seats, and then the flower girl. The intimate ceremony and dinner, with just a handful of invited guests, A F R I E N D Stephanie Zimmerer (left) dropped everything to be with her friend in need. 54 February/March 2026 took place in the backyard of Kruse’s mother and stepfather. During the cer- emony, her mom was set up in the spare bedroom by a large window, where she “was able to hear some, see most and feel all of the love in her back- yard,” says Kruse, who became Kristen Butler that day. A few days later, Sandra Thompson passed away. Kristen Butler has called her wedding day “the best, worst day of my life,” because of all the swirling emotions—happy and sad. But she got through it, in no small part thanks to her longtime friend. “I needed her clear head to think for my own,” she says. “I needed her encouraging words. I needed her hugs. I needed her to tell me stories to remind me of good times. I needed her to tell my mother goodbye. I just needed her soul there with mine. She will never ever know how much her being here meant to me and my family.” O ne problemwith buttered pop- corn—and there are not many—is that it leaves a slimy, albeit delicious, film on your hands. Just ask Steve and Jeannine Van Yssel- dyk. The couple, from Mission, British Columbia, were eating a bag of the stuff on their lawn when they spilled some. Jeannine picked up the dropped pop- corn and tossed it into a compost heap. Then she and Steve finished off the rest of the popcorn. The next day, she discovered that her engagement and wedding rings were missing from her finger. After looking everywhere, it dawned on the couple that the rings must have slid off her finger into the compost heap when Jeannine tossed in the popcorn. No problem—they’d just sift through it. But the village had already picked up the compost. Steve is nothing if not determined. go all in on wedding rings A H U S B A N D A N D A F I A N C E E The proud mom watches her daughter walking to the altar. readersdigest.com.au 55 Cover Story reader ’ s digest