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.
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.
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.
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.
“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.
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."
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.”
