Healing Through Love: Lewiston, Maine, Shooting Survivor Sets Wedding on Anniversary of Tragedy

Amongst the hundreds of stories that you'll most likely see on the one-year anniversary of the horrific mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, here's one story that will keep your heart happy.

In fact, it's so inspirational that it was picked up by ABC News, and I think we could all benefit from an optimistic man named Ben Dyer.

You may have recognized his name in the news before as Ben was a brave victim in the deadly Lewiston shooting and was shot 5 times inside the bowling alley that evening.

He was lucky enough to have walked away from it.

While we honor and continue to remember the 18 other victims who were not as lucky as Ben, it's also dawning on me that Maine really needs to continue focusing on healing through positivity.

Fast forward 365 days later, and Maine natives Ben Dyer and fiancee Keela Smith have told ABC News that "they want to turn the worst day of their lives into the best."

It seems like they've got a great new outlook on the meaning of life as they've now set their wedding date to Oct. 25, 2025, in hopes of reclaiming that day as their own, the news station reported.

As for what that day?

"So that we can always have it be a good reminder for us. Something that we don’t dread every year, and that doesn’t break our hearts every year," Keela Smith told ABC News.

"Because it will be 'Oh, that’s our wedding day. That’s the day that we took back, and we made it ours.'"

This is such a beautiful story of resilience, and once again proves how genuinely amazing Mainers are.

Ben, you're a badass for this, for all of this. Thank you for being a walking example of strength for our state.

May we always hold the other 18 victims in our hearts and continue to honor their lives by living ours to the fullest.

Lewiston Strong.