Bethany Smith: ‘I have a lot of good memories’

>> bethany smith is now joining us exclusively. bethany , good morning.

>> good morning.

>> you have a big smile on your face.

>> i'm excited to be here.

>> excited to have you here. i saw you watching that story with tears in your eyes. and also laughing. as well. it's just been barely three months. how are you doing?

>> up and down. it's hard. but i have an amazing support system, and i have a lot of good memories, too.

>> there is so much beauty in your story, as well. in addition to these memories. i can see you're still wearing the wedding ring .

>> yep.

>> do you -- tell us the story of how he proposed. because it was a surprise.

>> it was a surprise. i -- one of the reasons -- he's still going through treatment at the time, and i had no focus on the idea of getting engaged at that point. it was one of those things we assumed we'd do it after the fact. so that was one of the reasons why he decided to propose while he was still kind of in treatment, because he knew it was the only way he would surprise me. and we took a trip to bend, central, oregon for the weekend and he said he was uncomfortable from the drive and needed to pull over. and i was like chemo patient, you know, whatever he needs, we can do. and he -- we were walking down by the water and he just dropped down to one knee and i dropped down to both knees, and freaked out a bit. but, it was -- it was a huge surprise and really special.

>> you, at the time, had heard positive news that the prognosis might be good for ryan .

>> his original prognosis was 100%.

>> and you wanted to wait two years before you got married. why?

>> i always told him i wanted to be engaged for two years because i wanted to be able to plan it for two years. but, when he proposed and he was, you know, still dealing with all the health stuff we pushed it back. we were thinking 2013 . just wait until he's healthy, recovered, and we could then start planning from there.

>> you didn't get that time. and as time was running out, you realized you had to do something quickly. so you planned this in three days. how did you pull off such a beautiful wedding in so short a time?

>> well, it wasn't just me. it was definitely a group effort, and you know, it really just came down to us deciding what was important to us for that day. and making those things happen. and trying to let go of the things that, you know, didn't necessarily need to be there.

>> you've said looking back there was more love in that room than i had ever experienced in my life, and looking at these images we can see that love. so many people, 400,000 people, have read this story on today.com, and the responses have been just beautiful. so many people deeply moved. one commenting, i am singing and not in love and i'm still bawling my eyes out. it's nice to know the precious few who are so very lucky to fall in love like this. may he rest in peace and prayers to bethany for a happy and successful life. how do you respond to this, this, this reaction to the beauty of your relationship with ryan ?

>> i mean, it's a bit overwhelming. but in a positive way. i think that it's good to know that it brings out the best in people just hearing something like that. i hope it would be a positive influence. i mean obviously we were dealt a very hard situation. but, seeing other people being inspired by it, i guess, could make it a little easier in a way.

>> inspired by the strength of the two of you, and the depth of your love, and we're ought of time but i want to quickly ask that we take a photograph, show your parents, and also ryan 's parents, carrie and peter are here, and your parents susan and steve are also here and we recognize them from your wedding. congratulations to your family for the resilience and the beauty of the love you found with ryan

>> thank you.

>> thank you so much for