Wife gets job as dishwasher at nursing home to be with husband with Alzheimer’s
INQUIRER.net stock photo
After not seeing each other for almost four months amid the pandemic, elderly couple Mary and Steve Daniel have finally been reunited after the wife took a job at her husband’s nursing home.
“After 114 days I got to hug my husband today. I also washed [a lot] of dishes. Proof where there’s a will there’s a way! I love you Steve Daniel!” the wife posted on Facebook on July 3.
Mary did not let the opportunity to work as a dishwasher just pass by as it meant she gets to see her husband once again, as per First Coast News on July 9.
After 114 days I got to hug my husband today. I also washed alot of dishes. Proof where there’s a will there’s a way! I love you Steve Daniel! #EndAlz
Posted by Mary Shannon Daniel on Friday, July 3, 2020
“I told him I’d be there with him, holding his hand,” Mary was quoted as saying her promise to Steve.
Steve has early onset Alzheimer’s Disease and currently resides in the memory care unit of the nursing home, which does not allow visitors amid the lockdown.
Mary previously stated that she tried to window-visit him before, but it only made Steve cry as she could not explain the situation properly to the Alzheimer’s-afflicted husband.
After the couple’s story of being separated during the health crisis broke out, the nursing facility offered Mary the dishwashing job, and thus a chance to be with her husband.
Steve had a visit with his nurse practitioner this morning so I thought it might be a good time for us to try a window…
Posted by Mary Shannon Daniel on Thursday, May 21, 2020
He remembers
Mary disclosed that at first, she was worried that Steve may have already forgotten her because of the disease and the huge amount of time they were apart. Fortunately, this was not the case.
“He knew me. He called me, Mary,” the doting wife was quoted as saying.
Mary added that Steve was even teary-eyed when they first met again and touched her face even with her mask on, assuring her that despite disease and time, Steve has not forgotten his wife.
Having gone through what she did, Mary has since created a Facebook group dedicated to creating a dialogue with state governors to allow safe visits to nursing homes. This came after an additional 60-day ban on visitors was recently implemented.
“All we ask is to be heard and together is the best way to make that happen. THERE HAS TO BE A BETTER WAY!” she posted earlier today, July 15, on the group called Caregivers for Compromise – because isolation kills too! JB
RELATED STORIES:
Good Samaritan nurse, mother of 4, dies helping car crash victim
Elderly couple die of COVID-19 minutes apart, holding hands
For more news about the novel coronavirus click here.
What you need to know about Coronavirus.
For more information on COVID-19, call the DOH Hotline: (02) 86517800 local 1149/1150.
The Inquirer Foundation supports our healthcare frontliners and is still accepting cash donations to be deposited at Banco de Oro (BDO) current account #007960018860 or donate through PayMaya using this link.
