Kan. Couple Married 67 Years Die Hours Apart

Principessa

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Kan. Couple Married 67 Years Die Hours Apart

TROY, Kan. -- Residents of a northeast Kansas town are mourning the deaths just hours apart of an elderly couple who were married 67 years. Arnita Yingling died in her sleep early Saturday at the family's home in Troy. She was 93. Six hours later her 95-year-old husband, Lyle, died at a nursing home in the nearby town of Wathena.

At their funeral Wednesday, friends and relatives described the two as inseparable. Some found comfort knowing neither would have to live without the other. The Yinglings were married in 1941. Both were born on northeast Kansas farms and were active in Troy as members of their church and civic organizations.

This is the sweetest and most poignant story I've ever seen in a newspaper. My mom wants she and dad to go just like in The Notebook. :heart:

 

Principessa

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Clearly they weren't inseparable. Their family chose to take care of them apart which I think was cruel.

Btw, nj, you and these human interest/news threads...

I noticed that and there must have been a reason. Perhaps the same facility was full or one needed special care that the other didn't. I dunno. :dunno:

What? :irked: It's sad yet heart warming. IMO, It's a feel good, human interest story. Maybe it will bring hope to someone who had lost faith in finding true love.
 
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How sad, yet life affirming. True love does exist! I think when it's time to care for the elderly, those involved and close to them make the best decision possible at the time. Perhaps the family thought it best to separate them in order to give them the best possible care. It sounds to me like their relationship must have commanded that kind of respect/consideration from others close to them.

NJ, continuing doing your best and post those stories you feel are relevant. We get enough dick (good and bad) and noise from all of the butt trumpets blaring about on here as it is.

You are doing just fine. Thank you for sharing it, I chose to read it.
 
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nudeyorker

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Thanks for sharing that story NJ it was very sweet and I thought of "The Notebook" when I saw the thread...BTW if people don't want to look at a thread they are under no obligation to open it. I'm sure mine is not the only computer with a scroll feature.
 

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Sort of an update to the original post is that Hawaii overturns law keeping married couple apart. I wonder how many other states currently have such laws on the books?

HONOLULU – A couple forced to live apart after more than 60 years of marriage will soon be reunited thanks to a new law changing Hawaii's rules for residential nursing care. Gov. Linda Lingle signed a measure Wednesday that will allow 87-year-old Terry Kaide to move into the same residential care home as her husband Sidney, 89, for the first time in two years. "I'm so happy," said Terry Kaide, who cried with joy as she watched from her wheelchair while Lingle signed the bill. "I feel great because now we don't have to get permission to live together. We're free to move in." The Big Island couple, married for 63 years, had become the unintended victims of rules that allow only two Medicaid clients and one private-pay client to be in the same residential care home. The problem for the Kaides was they paid using private insurance and savings. In 2007, that forced them to live apart if Sidney Kaide was to receive the care he needed. The law allowing only one paying resident in each foster home was intended to ensure that most of the beds in such homes were available to low-income people on Medicaid. The new law allows married couples, reciprocal beneficiaries, siblings, parents of a child or best friends to live together in the homes even if they aren't covered by Medicaid."My dad doesn't have much longer, and she at least wants to be with him," said daughter Annette Clay. "She's been very depressed and very lonely, and there wasn't much we could do to help her." Following Terry Kaide's back surgery two years ago, she sought exemptions to the law from the governor, the government department that certifies the home and the attorney general. Everyone wanted the Kaides to spend the rest of their lives together, but there was no reading of the law that would allow it. So the Kaides and their three daughters decided to persuade state legislators to change it. While her father can't talk or walk and gets his food from a feeding tube, Terry Kaide said he squeezes her hand when she visits to show that he loves her and understands.

State officials said the third bed in the community care home, which is funded with state and federal government money, has been certified and Terry Kaide can move in immediately. Previously, the law prevented her from moving in even though only two people were living there. She visited her husband every day, paying her caregiver $500 a month to drive her 10 miles from her home to the town of Papaikou, almost 10 miles away from her husband. "It ends an injustice for one family and it brings hope to families who may find themselves in a similar situation," Lingle said at the bill's signing ceremony. "It's about real people and their lives together."
 

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My grandparents were married for 67 years. If my grandmother had died first, I'm sure my grandfather would have died shortly thereafter. The only reason he lived as long as he did was for her. He finally deteriorated to a point where he couldn't hold on any longer, and died in his sleep.

My grandmother, who had Alzheimer's, lived for another couple of years, but she couldn't retain the knowledge that he had died. When we would visit she would ask, "Where's Walter?" and we'd just say, "Oh, you know him, he's off getting into trouble somewhere." (Which was probably true. He was quite the rascal in life, and I can't imagine he'd be any different in death.) Every now and then she'd have moments of clarity when she'd say softly, "I miss Walter." God, that broke my heart.

This song reminds me of my grandfather. He always told me never to grow old, but he forgot to tell me how.
http://www.lyricsdir.com/cowboy-junkies-those-final-feet-lyrics.htmlhttp://www.stlyrics.com/songs/c/cowboyjunkies905/thosefinalfeet42422.html

You can hear a sample of the song at amazon.com.
Amazon.com: Miles from Our Home: Cowboy Junkies: Music