New York couple married for 70 years reunited after months apart due to Covid-19 pandemic

After 70 years of marriage, a New York couple were forced to spend months apart due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Now, they've finally been reunited, and according to CBS News, they could not stop kissing each other.

91-year-old Walter Willard and his 89-year-old wife, Jean, tied the knot before their 20th birthdays, and in the ensuing 70 years, they've had two daughters, Wendy and Wanda, and opened up Willard Steer House Station restaurants in Troy, Cohoes, and Clifton Park.

The couple had always been in good health until last year, when Jean fell and broke her pelvis, her daughters revealed to WRGB.

Jean was moved into the Eddy Memorial Geriatric Center in Troy, New York, which was very close to the couple's house. So Walter could visit her every day, until the recent coronavirus pandemic.

"My dad would go over there every day and spend most of every day, in the beginning he was there all day from the morning until night when she went to bed," Wendy told the publication, explaining that the Covid-19 pandemic meant that the nursing home had to impose restrictions against visiting to halt the spread of the virus, which can be especially deadly to vulnerable groups, such as the elderly.

"He went downhill so quickly when he couldn't see her," Wendy added, saying that Jean would cry and wonder why Walter hadn't visited her.

Walter recently suffered a brain bleed after a fall, and later underwent surgery at Albany Medical Center. His daughters hoped that they could move him into the Eddy Memorial Geriatric Center with their mother. However, this wasn't possible while the establishment was on precautionary lockdown.

Wendy and Wanda then proceeded to write a letter to the director, appealing them to admit their father.

"I told him what we were afraid of, we’re afraid we’re going to lose one of them and they’re never going to have seen each other again, and I asked: 'Is there anything you can do? We’re willing to take the risk, my dad is willing to take the risk.' He immediately called me and said: 'Absolutely, we want to do this for you!'" Wendy explained.

Now, Jean and Walter share a room in the same nursing home, and their daughters hope to be able to visit them as soon as it is safe to do so.