An elderly Minnesota couple recently had an emotional reunion after a nursing home lockdown forced them apart.
Jerry and Beverley Lindell have been married 63 years and had never spent more than a day away from each other. That is, until Jerry’s nursing home locked down to protect its residents against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the two suddenly found themselves unable to see each other.
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Suddenly, Beverly wasn’t allowed to come and visit her husband everyday, like she usually did.
The pair’s daughter, Loriee Barnes, told 11 Alive that the separation took a serious emotional toll on her mother. In fact, she sometimes cried because she missed seeing her husband so much.
On March 26, Beverly turned 84 years old and believed she was going to have to celebrate her birthday without her beloved husband by her side.
However, totally unbeknownst to her, Loriee and Jerry had been secretly planning something extra special and had a huge surprise in store for the unsuspecting birthday girl.
As it turns out, Jerry’s mandatory quarantine just happened to end that day, and he was able to come home and give his wife an all-important “happy birthday” hug.
Loriee film the heartwarming moment her dad walked through the door and surprised his wife.
In the video, a visibly shocked Beverly stares at her husband and exclaims, “Well hi, honey!”
As he begins to walk towards her with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, Beverly says, “I can’t hug you,” prompting Jerry to reply “Why can’t you? I can hug you” as he wraps his arms around her.
As soon as she realizes she is, in fact, allowed to touch her husband, Beverly hugs him back and begins to cry.
“I just thought we weren’t supposed to hug,” she later told 11 Alive of their reunion. “But I couldn’t wait to grab him, so we hugged each other, and I cried and cried and cried.”
“It’s something I’ll never forget,” Jerry added.
Loriee posted the emotional video to Facebook where it quickly went viral.
As of writing, the video has currently been viewed over 15,000 times and has received hundreds of comments from people who were understandably moved by the elderly pair’s reunion.
“This is the sweetest thing,” one person wrote. “I work in a nursing home and my heart hurts for the residents and their families who aren’t able to see each other right now.”
Even days after the couple was reunited, they have refused to leave each other’s side.
During their video interview they appear seated right beside each other on the couch with their hands tightly intertwined between them.
“I wouldn’t let him go,” Beverley says. “He’s mine to keep.”
h/t: 11 Alive , Facebook | Loriee Barnes
