By Julian Gavaghan

Last updated at 2:53 PM on 14th February 2012

A mother who battled cancer for two years died just hours after watching her beloved daughter become a bride.

Linda Stace clung on to life and watched her oldest child Jamie-Lee and Harry Hopwood become happily married.

The couple planned to marry later this year, but moved the wedding forward and arranged it in just a week so Linda, whose condition had dramatically worsened, could be there.

Dying wish: Cancer victim Linda Stace, centre, with her daughter Jamie-Lee and new son-in-law Harry Hopwood surrounded by Mrs Stace’s son Ryan, 12 and daughter Lauren, 11, before the marriage ceremony

However, just 36 hours after the ceremony on Saturday, the 45-year-old passed away at St Luke’s Hospice in Basildon, Essex, which hosted a blessing after a civil ceremony.

The new Mrs Hopwood, 21, said: ‘I miss my mum so much but I know how proud she was to be at our wedding.

‘She was so strong and now she can rest and stop fighting. The whole family is proud of the way mum fought right until the end and she hung on to see us get married.

‘She looked absolutely gorgeous at the wedding and I’m so happy she shared our big day with us, she made it perfect, it was special, just like her.

‘I am so thankful and lucky that she was my mum.

Emotional: Linda hugs her daughter in a final embrace before she marries

Blessing: Mrs Stace husg her new son-in-law at a blessing at St Lukes hospice, Basildon after the wedding

Linda, inspirational mother-of-three was not well enough to attend Brentwood Register Office for the civil ceremony.

But she witnessed the couple’s emotional blessing held at the hospice where she had been staying since Christmas.

Surrounded by her loving family, Mrs Stace wore a purple and pink silk dress topped off with a sash saying Mother of the Bride.

Touched: Mrs Spaces struggles to hold back tears

She said afterwards: ‘I am so overwhelmed. The service was amazing, just beautiful and I am so proud of my Jamie-Lee.

‘She looked a million dollars, I am so happy.’

Mrs Stace was surrounded by her children, including Ben Hull, 12, and Lauren Hull, 11, family and friends when she died at 5.30am on Monday.

Jamie-Lee and Harry, 26, will now bring up Ben and Lauren, on Linda’s behalf.

She added: ‘Harry and I will give Ben and Lauren the best upbringing and the life she would have wanted them to have.’

Two years ago, Linda noticed a mole on her leg had changed colour and shape so she immediately went to the doctor.

She was told it was melanoma and had it removed.

With regular checks, everything seemed fine until last year, when she found a lump in her groin area and discovered the cancer had moved to her lymph nodes.

Linda has a major operation in November last year to have the cancer removed, but a few weeks later, doctors discovered a large tumour in her stomach and decided it was too dangerous to operate.

Mrs Hopwood, formerly Wheelam, was given away by her younger brother Ryan Shaves, 17, of Basildon, who plans to join the Army in May.

Big moment: The new Mrs Hopwood is escorted down the aisle by her 17-year-old brother Ryan

He said: ‘I have been so honoured to give my sister away today, our dad couldn’t be here and he asked me to step in.

‘I have been really excited about it.’

Jamie-Lee’s bridesmaids were her friend, Stephanie Marsh, and her sister, Lauren. Her brother, Ben, acted as the ring bearer for Harry, with his best man and cousin, Billy Hopwood.

Staff at St Luke’s worked hard to prepare the lounge for the service and put on a buffet for the guests afterwards, after finding out about the plan for the wedding a week ago.

Before: Mrs Stace with Jamie-Lee and two other children Lauren and Ben, who the new bride plans to look after

Jamie-Lee said after the ceremony: ‘I cannot thank everyone enough.

‘I don’t even know what to say, except for it was amazing and my mum was so proud of us.

‘There have been so many people who helped us arrange this day in just one week. They have been amazing.’

Health | Mail Online

(EW.com) — The box office had to contend with the Globe Series, a really early snowstorm in the Northeast, and Halloween festivities across the country this weekend, but audiences still managed to make it to the movies!

That getting stated, grosses for new releases “Puss in Boots,” “In Time,” and “The Rum Diary,” weren’t all that robust. Check out how they performed below:

Dreamworks Animation’s “Puss in Boots” was the top cat this weekend, clawing its way to a $ 34 million debut, 51 percent of which came from 3-D screens, and 7 percent of which was from IMAX theaters. On paper, that number sounds excellent — and, to be clear, it is by no means a disaster — but the result comes with a “Actual Steel”-ish caveat. “Puss in Boots” price $ 130 million to create, and it earned Dreamworks’ third-worst debut for a personal computer animated film, beating only “Flushed Away” and “Antz,” which began with $ 18.8 million and $ 17.two million, respectively. The 3-D “Shrek”-spinoff, cost as considerably as Dreamworks’ “Megamind,” which opened in early November 2010, but that film began with $ 46 million, and it played properly through the Thanksgiving season on its way to a $ 148.4 million total.

“Puss in Boots” entered theaters a week earlier, but it will need to endure even far better than “Megamind” to earn back its spending budget. The “A-” CinemaScore grade it earned from audiences must at least make that achievement feasible, but thinking about people are already familiar with the “Puss in Boots” character, it’s doubtful that the film will attract many uninitiated viewers. We won’t officially know exactly where “Puss in Boots” is headed until next weekend, when we see how much the snowstorm, the Globe Series, and Halloween really affected the box workplace this frame. (My guess is not considerably — and I’m not just being catty.)

Second location belonged to “Paranormal Activity 3,” which fell by 65 percent to $ 18.five million in its second weekend. The discovered footage horror sequel has scared up $ 81.three million following ten days in theaters, and considering the massive business the film will probably do on Halloween, “PA3″ is only a day away from passing Paranormal Activity 2′s $ 84.8 million cume. Not too shabby for a film that cost Paramount only $ five million to make!

Mr. Moviefone: ‘Puss In Boots’ charming

Fall Movies: Get the most up-to-date news, images, and a lot more

Fox’s $ 40 million Justin Timberlake/Amanda Seyfried thriller “In Time” underwhelmed with just $ 12 million in its opening weekend. That debut is less than Timberlake’s last film, “Pals with Advantages,” which began with $ 18.6 million on its way to $ 55.8 million, as properly as Seyfried’s recent “Red Riding Hood,” which debuted with $ 14 million on its way to $ 37.6 million.

Ads for “In Time” failed to successfully communicate the convoluted time-shifting story, and negative reviews most likely kept older moviegoers away. Timberlake’s leading man status could not have helped matters too considerably, either — audiences appear to uncover him far more appealing as portion of an ensemble, like in “The Social Network” and “Poor Teacher.” Moviegoers issued “In Time” an unenthusiastic “B-” CinemaScore grade, which could avoid the film from discovering the exact same type of legs that time-jumping thriller “Source Code” ($ 14.8 million opening, $ 54.7 million total) enjoyed earlier this year.

In its third weekend, dancing remake “Footloose” fell to fourth place, dropping 48 percent to $ five.four million. The $ 24 million production has now earned $ 38.5 million after 17 days in theaters, and it will pass the total of Julianne Hough’s 1st function film, “Burlesque” ($ 39.four million), sometime this week.

Johnny Depp’s most recent, “The Rum Diary,” stumbled out of the gate with just $ five million. “Pirates of the Caribbean” this was not. The disappointing opening fell in line with Depp’s other substance abuse image, 1998?s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” which debuted to $ three.3 million and earned $ 10.7 million total. “The Rum Diary’s” edgy story was usually going to be a difficult sell, and FilmDistrict’s President of Theatrical Distribution Bob Berney admits: “Even though we all wish the numbers had been better, we’re proud of the film and its loving tribute to Hunter S. Thompson.”

The $ 50 million picture marks the third straight box office disappointment for FilmDistrict, the young distributor that found good results with Insidious ($ 54 million) earlier this year. The studio has considering that struggled with each “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” ($ 23.9 million) and “Drive” ($ 33.7 million so far) lately. Sadly for FilmDistrict, audiences, which were 88 percent above the age of 25, gave “The Rum Diary” a harsh “C” CinemaScore grade, so it’s not likely to hold well in future weeks. Speak about a poor hangover…

In restricted release, Sony’s Shakespeare tale “Anonymous” started with $ 1 million out of 256 theaters. That was great adequate for a $ three,774 per theater typical, which does not merit large expansions in the coming weeks. Young romance “Like Crazy” fared much better, grossing $ 120,000 out of only 4 theaters, resulting in a $ 30,000 typical. Richard Gere’s newest, “The Double,” was D.O.A., pulling in only $ 27,545 out of 11 theaters. It is not probably to platform considerably further. Zeitgeist-y Wall Street thriller “Margin Call” continued to play fairly well, grossing $ 713,000 out of 140 theaters. It has earned $ 1.five million so far.

Internationally, “The Adventures of Tintin” got off to an exceptional commence. Sony’s motion capture animation grossed $ 55.8 million out of 19 territories, including $ 21.five million in France and $ 10.7 million in the United Kingdom, exactly where its being distributed by Paramount. Sony is bragging loudly about the film’s efficiency, maybe in response to some prognosticators claiming that “Tintin” is most likely to underperform domestically. (The image is based on a series of comic books by Hergé which had been really well-known in Europe, but only cult hits in the U.S.) We’ll uncover out how excited audiences are about “Tintin” on December 21.

1. “Puss in Boots” — $ 34 million

two. “Paranormal Activity 3″ — $ 18.5 mil

three. “In Time” — $ 12 mil

4. “Footloose” — $ five.4 mil

5. “The Rum Diary” — $ 5 mil

6. “Real Steel” — $ 4.7 mil

7. “The 3 Musketeers” — $ three.five mil

8. “The Ides of March” — $ 2.7 mil

9. “Moneyball” — $ 2.4 mil

ten. “Courageous” — $ 1.8 mil

See full article at EW.com.

CLICK HERE to Attempt two Threat Free issues of Entertainment Weekly

© 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved.

CNN.com – Entertainment

Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds

Sam Sharma/Pacific Coast News

Happy birthday to Ryan Reynolds!

The actor, who turns 35 on Sunday, is celebrating this weekend with a person special: Blake Lively.

The Green Lantern costars – and their dogs – were spotted Saturday morning outside an apartment in Boston, exactly where he’s filming the action film, R.I.P.D.

And this is no casual birthday meet-up. “They are really significantly a couple,” a source tells People. “They are truly content together.”

Lively, 24, recently split from Leonardo DiCaprio soon after a summer romance, and Reynolds is still friendly with his ex, Scarlett Johansson.

People.com Newest News