Elderly Ontario couple reunited after being forced to live apart
After three long months away from each other, a married Ontario couple in their 90s are back living under the same roof just in time to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.
Up until this past August, Jessie Terpstra, 92, and her husband, 93-year-old Clarence, were living happily together. According to CTV News, the couple was residing in a supported retirement residence attached to Shalom Manor, a long-term care facility in Grimsby, Ont.
In August, Clarence had a bad fall and was sent to the hospital. Because her husband was unable to help her get in and out of her wheelchair, Jessie was forced to be moved to a home that offered more round-the-clock care. That residence was located in St. Catharines, Ont., which is about 29 kilometres away from Grimsby.
For the first time in seven decades of marriage, Jessie and Clarence found themselves living separately.
The couple’s five children voiced their concerns with province’s long-term care system, contacting the government to ensure their parents would be reunited. After three months of dialogue with government officials, the couple received the news last week that a room had opened up in Shalom Manor and that they would be reunited.
According to CBC News, the reunion, which took place Wednesday, was an emotional one. The Tersptras will be able to celebrate their seven decades together in a home that they share, and have invited their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to the party.
“It’s an early Christmas present,” their son, Andy Terpstra, told CTV News in an article published on Nov. 30. “This is the longest they’ve ever been apart in their almost 70 years of marriage. So it’s great.”
