Wednesday, December 16, 2009

This One Will Make You Cry


These kinds of stories always remind me of movies. A couple in Florida who were married for 59 years died within moments of each other on Saturday night.

The couple eloped back when she was 16 and he was 19. Apparently they called each other honey so often that one of the grandchildren thought that was his grandfather's name.

Over the past few years the wife began to have health problems and moved into a nursing home while her husband lived with one of their daughters.

Over the past few weeks the husband had grown weaker and on Friday night he moved into the nursing home with her. They had one last night together before they both died on Saturday.

A joint funeral was being held today. I think they would like that.

31 comments:

bflogurl said...

Awwww, it's like The Notebook =)

You know the family they left behind will be sad, but how wonderful and comforting to know they've moved on with one another!

Patty said...

Although it is sad, at least niether has to know life without the other. Talk about soul-mates.

AphraelDanae said...

...yup, I'm crying.

That was lovely Enty.

MN Girl said...

I hope their family realizes this is a true blessing, and that's probably how the couple would have wanted it to happen. We need more stories like this one.

ItsJustMe said...

That's true love, done right.

Babs said...

I've always hoped that's how my man and I would go. After almost 30 years of marriage & a couple more before that, I can't imagine a life without him next to me.

Of course, I'm not suggesting that this event should happen anytime soon. I'm quite content to wait a few more decades before I'm ready to pack it in.

libbyBH said...

Aw, that's nice.

KLM said...

Great. Now I'm crying at work. I knew I should have skipped this post.

Sporky said...

Lovely story. But I'm a bit puzzled about the picture...is she sitting on a fence post or something? How is he holding her?

Sorry, don't mean to make light of a sad (yet happy) situation, but stuff like this drives me crazy! :)

Penny Whacker said...

It's nice to know that not everyone is a Tiger.

Missjenny619 said...

This has actually happened to two people I know. Two of my co-workers had elderly parents who had been married for many, many years and they died on the same day as well. One of my co-worker buddies flew to Germany to be with her sick father and while she was out there, he died. Her mother passed just a few hours later. Same day.

My other co-workers parents that died the same day were on different coasts and hadn't been married to eachother in several years; however, they had been married for 30 (maybe 40) or so years before they divorced. He got the call about one of them passing in the morning and a second call about the other one later on that same day. Very strange indeed.

kelly said...

I had the most amazing Grandparents ever (They were even in my wedding party). They were married for 67 years and both doing well at home (I lived across the street and checked in on them at least once a day) They had lost 3 of their 5 children all to cancer, but together they made it through. Then my Grandma got sick and my grandpa had to go into a home. I had to fight all the way to our prime ministers office to get them a room together in a nursing home, but finally succeeded. My grandpa died in December and my grandma in January (from being home to passing away 6 months). I knew one couldn't go on without the other. I was sad but glad that they were together again and with their children.

califblondy said...

This reminds me of the Kathy Mattea song "Where You Been?" That song used to make me bawl like a baby.

I think sometimes two people become one and can't function without the other. I also believe that a person can die of a broken heart.

I don't mean to take anything away from surviving partners who have continued on very well. Some people just can't.

Elizabeth Peregrina said...

true love...
i had an uncle who passed away and w/in a yr., his wife died. they were in there late 50's and had been together since there teens...

Miss(pdx) said...

My great grandparents moved here from Norway and lived right past their 50th wedding anniversary and when my g-grandma past away my g-grandpa followed 2 months later. My grandparents ( their son and daughter in law ) passed a few years ago just 5 months apart. They were both the cutest couples...

I love Love. :)

Miss(pdx) said...

@ kelly - thats amazing what you did for your grandparents. What a great granddaughter you are!

Einstein DeGeneres said...

That is a great death. It IS like The Notebook and the Kathy Mattea song, and also another one called "Walking Her Home" (home being heaven). All tearjerkers.

The first time I heard "Where've you been?"(Mattea) I thought that's how I want to feel with whomever I marry. And I do. I didn't get married til I was 38 (met him at 36) and it was like we were waiting for each other to be ready for each other. We feel like our marriage is a reward for having "challenging" childhoods.

I could live without him if I had to, but I don't want to.

sunnyside1213 said...

Such a sweet story. Wish we had more of these.

Sporky, I was confused at the picture too, so you are not alone.

jax said...

aww,that's kinda sweet and sad.

its not just people,animals too.
out here we used to have a seworld type park in Victoria that had killer whales etc. right on the ocean in a cornered off area. well i guess some animal activists had gone underwater and opened an area for them to escape. one tried to get through and got caught up and died..the other whale swam around and died the next day..from heart failure.they were both from the same pod and were mates.

KMG852 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KMG852 said...

oh Jax that is like that book where the red fern grows - that movie used to make me cry when I was a kid and they made us watch it at school

Seachica said...

I'm totally convinced, you *choose* when you're ready to die. My mom was very sick for several years and in a nursing home. However bad she had gotten mentally, she was still living a good life. In January, she had a stroke, and we all knew it was the end. Mom held on fighting and fighting, until finally the nurse there told me and my brother to let her know it was ok to go, that we'd be ok and she'd be safe. Within a handful of minutes of that conversation, mom's stats starting going up. And less than 10 minutes later, she passed on. She was absolutely, 100% waiting for us to say it was ok.

Similarly, my dad passed away 18 years ago, within a few months of his sister - who was the closest person to him - passing. No question about it, dad didn't want to continue on without his closest friend and sister.

Thank you for posting this, Enty. I have tears running down my face at work thinking about this. But they are good tears.

West End Girl said...

Yep, in tears here too.

My great-grandma died 6 weeks after I was born and despite having slowly succumbed to dementia, was aware that the next generation had begun and passed on peacefully. Her husband, however, couldn't bear being without her and just over a year later died. On his certificate it says heart attack but my grandma is adamant that it was a broken heart.

I hope one day I find someone that invokes the same reaction in me.

sunnyside1213 said...

Oh, I hate to hear stories about animals are getting hurt. I like them better than people.

Melody the First said...

My grandfather died six months after my grandmother on what would have been their 65th anniversary.

And it happens in spooky ways, too, with people who are just friends. I always think of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson who died within hours of each other on the same day, July 4th, on the 50th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence. They had each fallen ill between letters so beyond being very old, (and John several years older), neither had any idea the other was ailing. There's probably a rational explanation (I can think of several) but it does give one pause.

Pookie said...

WOW.

god knows what he allows, and why. but WOW.

chihuahuense said...

so sad, but so sweet.

I hope I go like that.

Procrastinator Extraordinaire said...

Wow, what luck (if that's what it is). I really like this story.

This probably means I have issues, but whenever I think about the possibility of getting married some day, I automatically think about how miserable and devastating it'll be if he dies first. Seriously, that occupies my marriage-related thoughts way more than any other aspect.

trashtalker said...

My grandparents, who are in their mid-90s, have been married 70 years so far.

My other grandfather died just a few hours before his older brother did.

Kim said...

So cute. So wonderful. Keeps me hopeful that there is a love like that out there for me, even at 42.

The Cocoanut Grove said...

I feel bad for their kids who are now orphans. When one parent passes away, it's good to have the other there for support.

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