One Vermont man went to extreme lengths to check an item off of his dying wife’s bucket list.
Not long after being married, Lisa Shelton (57) was diagnosed with cancer. Her husband, Mark (54), offered to take her anywhere in the world. Lisa actually had a much different request. She wanted to see her new husband donning a sequined jumpsuit and perform an Elvis impersonation like he used to do in high school when the couple first met.
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While Mark and Lisa Shelton met when they were teenagers, they both went on to marry other people and lead separate lives. Mark started impersonating Elvis while he was in hig school, and later performed in places across the Northeast and Canada. However, Mark and Lisa reconnected and then two years ago in 2014 the couple was married.
Mark had no issue with singing for his dying wife who has Stage 4 lung cancer, but he did not want to perform as The King in the shape that he was in. He thought it was disrespectful to his wife, and to Elvis to impersonate him at his weight, which was around 400 pounds.
Over the course of a year, Mark went on to drop 160 pounds. Then to make his wife’s wish come true, he performed two sold-out shows in Derby Line, Vermont.
“The concert was awesome,” Mark recalled. “The community came out in droves. Both shows were sold out a week before.”
Mark said that the spectators who came to the show were “people who love my wife and people who think I’m OK.”
On Monday, Lisa told Inside Edition, “I just smiled at him. I just followed his lead. That’s pretty much what I’ve done with him since he’s been in my life. Follow his head.”
Lisa also mentioned that she was happy that she decided to purchase a new dress given that Mark pulled on stage as he sang “Surrender” to her. She said, “I could just see how much he loved me and it felt really good.”
As Mark was working on shedding the weight, Lisa could tell that he was much happier and healthier.
“I watched him through the months, turning away food that he absolutely loves, like my mother’s applie pie,” Lisa explained. “Being that big is really hard. People look at you funny.”
This isn’t the case for Mark anymore. “People respond differnently to him now,” she said. “I was just happy for him.”
Mark is down to 214 pounds now, and hoping to lose even more.
We would like to thank Mark and Lisa Shelton for sharing this touching story.
