A wedding of three hearts

By BARBARA HUNT For the Frontiersman

PALMER — Last weekend, Becky Green and Kelly Turney got married on a Palmer farm. This is a beautiful story in and of itself. Becky and Kelly are longtime Valley residents and have had a long romance and a growing business called Alaska Pickers. Their lovely wedding was the frosting on the congratulatory cake.

Almost.

Many guests attended their wedding. One of the surprise guests, Jacob Kilby, was an organ recipient of Triston Green’s. Triston was Becky’s son.

Triston was a Valley kid and grew up in Wasilla playing sports, riding dirt bikes and loving the outdoors. He attended Colony High School and graduated from Valley Pathways. He went to college at the University of Nevada and majored in business. He was lively and well liked. He was 19 when he died in October 2015.

According to Becky, Triston had made the decision to register as an organ donor, and after his death, Triston became a hero for five different people with the sharing of his organs. Aside from horrible grief, all Becky knew was that her son’s heart went to a “20 year old male.” This seemed like a good match since they were so close in age.

Time went by and life resumed at a different pace. In the past year, all while Becky was making her wedding plans, Kelly was slyly working hard to make the connection with Jacob through his family. Kelly didn’t let Becky know what he was doing. Becky says, with laughter, “He was a big, big sneak.”

And what a surprise it was.

At the actual wedding ceremony, Becky and Jacob met and embraced for the first time. Jacob explained his connection to her son, his gratitude and asked Becky to listen, by stethoscope, to her son’s beating heart. One can only imagine the joy of that amazing moment. Jacob helped with the ceremony and helped with the family afterward.

“Jacob is an amazing young man,” Kelly said. “We reached out to his family and now our family has expanded to include both Jacob and his family. And the results have been rich and wonderful… Simply, this connection was a gift for my wife and our daughter.”

Last weekend this beautiful story went viral and as of Tuesday, the Facebook posting by photography business “Love Adventured” had received more than 22 million views. Kelly and Becky have been besieged with inquiries from all over the world, including England, Germany and Australia. Major media has been in touch with the newlyweds, documenting a universal story that touches all hearts.

Becky and Kelly both agreed on the most important thing coming out of this.

“We have realized how important it is to register as an organ donor. It saves lives,” the couple said. “Triston taught us this and is continuing to show his generous soul and craziness that we loved.”

Turney wedding photos courtesy Love Adventured, LLC.