An elderly Indiana couple recently shared an emotional reunion after the coronavirus outbreak kept them apart for more than a month, FOX 59 reported.
Don and Joyce Hoffman have been married for 67 years, and when Joyce tested positive for the virus back in May, the pair suddenly found themselves inexplicably separated for the first time since saying "I do."
Married on July 13, 1952, the happy couple now share two children and four grandchildren together.
But their blissful love story would soon take an unexpected, heartbreaking turn with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the U.S.
In an effort to keep both her and her husband safe, Don, also 90, was strictly prohibited from visiting his wife, and for the next 5 weeks the pair would be kept apart while Joyce battled the deadly virus on her own.
It was the first time in their entire marriage they had ever been apart for so long.
She emerged from the room she'd been locked in for the last 5 weeks to the sound of the appropriate song, "Celebration" with balloons tied to her walker and a sign reading, "COVID-19 Survivor" taped to the front.
Of course, the first person waiting outside for her was her husband Don, armed with a bouquet of flowers and ready to finally be with his wife again.
As the couples' wheelchairs are wheeled towards each other, Don appears to be at a loss for words and can only exclaim, “Oh, all right. All right, all right, oh, honey!” at the sight of his wife.
“I have to cry from happiness. I have to cry!” Don says, giving his wife a kiss on her hand after the two embrace each other. “You look so wonderful! You look so beautiful!”
In response, his equally-delighted wife exclaims, “How can you be so cute?”
“After every resident ‘graduates’ from our COVID unit, all of our staff gather to celebrate and have a parade for them,” she told FOX 59. “This celebration was incredibly special because we planned a surprise reunion for Joyce and Don—he didn’t know she was coming back yesterday.”
But, she continued, their heartwarming reunion is certainly one that staff at the facility won't soon forget.
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the building yesterday," she recalled. "It was a special moment that we will all remember forever at Hooverwood.”
h/t: FOX 59, Instagram | @hooverwoodliving, Pictures: YouTube | ABC News
