A Couple Married For 62 Years Were Forced To Live Apart And Their Story Will Break Your Heart

Today, we can call ourselves lucky if we find love. Luckier if we get married and the marriage lasts more than a couple of years. For many of us, our parents celebrating 25 years of togetherness is a big event. It sounds impressive, all that time spent together.

Then, just for a second, imagine how deep the connection will go when a couple has been married for 62 years. That is more than half a century, living with the same person.

Wolfram Gottschalk is 83 and his wife Anita is 81, and they have been married for 62 years. But due to a cruel twist in the old age support system they had to separate. This is their photo when they met sometime after the separation.

Wolfram suffers from Alzheimer’s, which means Anita can no longer take care of him by herself. So he was put in a different elder care center than her’s.

Wolfram’s “old age home” is for assisted living, which means that he needs care round the clock, and Anita does not. This means Wolfram has to spend his time alone, away from his partner of 62 years.

Their granddaughter Ashley Kaila posted the image on Facebook and described it as one of the saddest photos she had seen.

“I see people married for 62 years pulled apart by a system. I see the love they have for each other.”

Wolfram has been diagnosed with Lymphoma – cancer that is surely fatal at his age. Which means he has very little time to live. And he lives it without his love.

 

His Alzheimer’s is growing and soon he will not be able to recognize his wife of 62 years. Anita, who doesn’t have any condition, is aware of this.

 

The couple got married in Germany in 1954 and have been together ever since.

 

They moved to Canada after the Second World War where they started a new life together.

 

He still calls Anita “little mouse” in German whenever he sees her.

Today, they live 30 minutes away from each other. But even those 30 minutes are too far away for them. Wolfram is losing his memory quickly, and their children and grandchildren are campaigning to keep them together, for the little time together they have left.

When death is so close and you have lived 62 years together, every second counts.

We hope they get together for their last days. If they do not deserve it, then we do not know who does.

News Source – Hindustan Times