Michael Catlett, 58, married his true love, 49-year-old Rogina Catlett, just one week before he died from cancer on October 30. The couple exchanged vows on October 23 in an emotional and intimate ceremony held inside Michael’s hospital room at Sutter Solano Medical Center in Vallejo, California, marking one of his final moments, saying, “I do.”
“Through sickness and health, love remains,” Rogina told People. “When you love someone, you stay to the end. You get an opportunity to express love. Just because the one you love is sick doesn’t mean you quit. It becomes not about you but about us.”
Recognizing Michael’s rapidly declining health, the two understood they needed to proceed quickly with their plans. The couple, who had gotten engaged in August 2025, were determined to marry despite the circumstances.
They turned to Wish Upon a Wedding, a nonprofit organization that facilitates weddings and vow renewals for couples facing terminal illnesses or severe health challenges.
They submitted their application on August 18 and were interviewed just 11 days later.
“During the weeks that followed, as they began completing their paperwork, Michael was in and out of the hospital. At the time of our interview, the couple shared that Michael’s doctor estimated he had approximately one to three years. However, when we received his doctor’s verification, his life expectancy was listed as four weeks,” Wish Upon a Wedding recounted. “We knew that we had to move very quickly on their wish.”
The emotional wedding ceremony, complete with a heartfelt prayer, brought together the couple’s closest family and friends.
Rogina had always dreamed of a beach wedding, and Michael felt he was letting her down because his illness made travel impossible. However, Rogina reassured him that the only thing that truly mattered was becoming his wife.
“I told him that all that matters is that we’re together and that I wanted to be with him,” she said, adding, “I had waited so long for that moment. It was breathtaking, I just thought, ‘Wow, we’re here and doing it. It’s finally happening; we are living our dream.'”
For Rogina, marrying Michael, regardless of the short time they had, meant the world.
“It meant that I was his everything, his last love, it validated me and what we were to each other,” she shared. “I felt so special and just wanted to protect him.”
Michael’s life changed dramatically in March 2023, two years into his relationship. After experiencing worrying symptoms, he was admitted to the emergency room and diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer, which had spread to his bones and liver.
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He immediately began chemotherapy, showing significant improvement by October 2023, which allowed him to stop the treatment. Michael then started a regimen of medication and regular monitoring, and by December 2023, his doctor delivered the hopeful news that he was in remission.
Later that month, Michael’s condition worsened dramatically. A sudden inability to walk led him back to the emergency room, where tests revealed the aggressive progression of his cancer. Chemotherapy was restarted and initially seemed successful.
However, two months later, Michael again had difficulty walking, and new tumors were found in his pelvis and lumbar spine. As a result, doctors halted chemotherapy to begin an intensive course of radiation. Despite these efforts, the cancer progressed rapidly, necessitating his hospitalization and eventual transition to hospice care.
Now, Rogina finds comfort in watching a video of her wedding vows every night since Michael’s passing.
She explained, “I watch Michael pull me close to him and I know how happy he was. In this moment, I watch us becoming one, finally.”
