Why Meghan McCain moved up her wedding

Following father John McCain’s brain cancer diagnosis in July, Meghan McCain and longtime love Ben Domenech knew they had to make every moment count.

“I felt like a nuclear bomb went off in my life. I was a mess. I was barely functioning,” newlywed McCain, 33, told People.

Although the Arizona senator, 81, underwent radiation and chemotherapy to treat his for stage 4 Glioblastoma, an aggressive form of cancer that’s often impossible to cure, McCain and conservative writer Domenech, 35, decided to take the plunge, getting engaged at the Mayo Clinic where Sen. McCain received a scan.

“We were originally going to elope before everything happened with my dad, but obviously all these things have taken on a new meaning,” McCain shared.

The couple wed ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday at the McCain family ranch in Sedona, Arizona, Nov. 21.

“We pushed everything up,” McCain said. “My dad is doing really well right now, but it’s a deeply unpredictable cancer. You’re really just living scan to scan. I wanted to make sure that he was — that we were all — there. Why wait?”

After McCain’s brother, Army guardsman Jimmy, stepped up and walked her down the aisle, as their cancer-stricken father had torn his Achilles tendon days prior, the bride and groom celebrated with a western hunting-lodge theme. Both McCain and Domenech cherished having the senator present on their wedding day.

“This brought into focus how important it was for Meghan to have her dad see her get married, and to have that happen while he was still fully there and fully able to participate,” Domenech said. “This was something she needed.”