Making Memories' Co-Founder,
Anna Nelson, Marries

Anna Nelson has been making wishes and dreams come true for terminal breast cancer patients across the nation since she was 19 years old. On April 28th her very own dream comes true when she marries Sam Orr, in San Diego, CA.

Orr, a Honduran National, and Anna , met in 2003 while attending the Molalla Christian Church together in Molalla, Oregon. They became fast friends and Orr happily worked behind the scenes at many Making Memories events. In the United States on a student visa, Sam was forced to return to his native country somewhat unexpectedly when a glitch in the immigration system suddenly ended his studies in June of 2005. Anna’s two daughters, Bayleigh (8) and Jaylynn (6) from her former marriage, felt they had lost their best friend when Sam returned to Honduras.

Unbeknownst to Anna, Bayleigh told Sam in a long-distance phone call that since her mother wasn’t married, he could be their dad if he’d just marry her. Sam, having never told Anna he was in love with her before leaving the states decided to risk professing his feelings and wrote Anna the letter that made her dream come true...a chance to marry her best friend ...a man who had stolen her heart, as well, although she had not previously acknowledged it.

Nelson and her daughters traveled to Honduras in December, where Sam asked his future daughters for their mother's hand in marriage. Amidst cheers and tears of joy, he solemnly gave each of them diamond rings sealing his promise of more wishes and dreams to come in the years ahead.

The Making Memories Breast Cancer Foundation was co-founded in 1998 by the mother /daughter team of Fran Hansen and Anna Nelson from Portland, Oregon. Their story has received national coverage from Oprah, MSNBC, Redbook, Martha Stewart Weddings, Newsweek, Woman’s Day and Shape magazine to mention a few. Anna and her mother were named 2005 Trendsetters of the Year by Modern Bride Magazine and they were honored as “Women Who Make A Difference” in a recent issue of Family Circle.