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Sarena and Tyler Vilandre, both 21, met when they were both in 6th grade. Sarena – then Sarena Saad – remembers that their connection was instantaneous.
“It was love at first sight! I had the biggest crush on him, I would draw his name and put hearts all over it!” she recalls with a laugh. “I didn’t know back then how much he would end up meaning to me in the future.”
Just as Sarena predicted, their connection was undeniable. The two became friends very quickly and eventually started dating in their senior year of high school, when they were both students at Keller Central High School in Fort Worth, Texas.
At the time, they were very much in love, enjoying their time together, and dreaming of a future where they would be married and have a full life together.
In May 2013, they went to their high school prom together and decided to stay together through their college years as well.
In February 2015, however, when both Sarena and Tyler were sophomores in college, the couple received news that then inserted questions and unknowns into all of their plans.
Sarena was diagnosed with a bone cancer called osteosarcoma.
At that point, she and Tyler had only been dating for a year and a half, but were already faced with the question of whether they would continue considering having a future together, and whether they would start that life while Sarena was still alive.
Before the couple decided, Sarena began chemotherapy treatment in was declared in remission by November 2015. But just three months later, in January 2016, the cancer had returned and doctors offered to put her on clinical trial, to see if there were other ways they could treat the disease.
The trial treatment didn’t prove to be effective, and by July 2016, Sarena had to enter hospice care. She only had three to 12 months left to live, and that was when she decided – she wanted to get married.
“I told him I wanted to get married and he was like, ‘I do too,’ ” she remembers. “So we began planning a wedding to happen in a few months, because I wasn’t sure how long I was going to have.”
On September 17, the couple tied the knot in their “dream wedding” on the “happiest day of [their] live[s].”
Now, Sarena currently spends all of her time at her mom’s home in Watauga, Texas. Tyler is finishing his final year at Austin College in Sherman, Texas, and tries to visit his wife whenever he can. The couple was very thankful that they were, at least, able to celebrate one Valentine’s Day together as husband and wife, because they know it may very well be their last.
As Sarena’s time continues to dwindle, she keeps reminding Tyler that he has to keep on living, regardless if something happens to her.
“I said, ‘If you meet someone that brings you joy, do it. Don’t let me hold you back.’ Because that’s the last thing I would want. He’s my love and I’ll always care for him, no matter what happens.”
