The Heart Always Remembers

We asked couples in our campus programs how they stay connected and create meaningful moments together through the dementia journey.

Couple: Bill and Kathy — Bill is a caregiver in our Memory Café support group
Years married: 61
Fun fact: They met as teenagers in Hawaii when Kathy was vacationing there with her family. The pair stayed in touch across many time zones and years, marrying after college.
How they stay connected: “We like to walk together. We also started a recent project of trying to watch all the American Film Institute’s 100 greatest movies of all time together.”

Couple: Linda and Laurie — Linda is an Assisted Living resident
Years married: 7 (together for 24 years)
Fun fact: The early photo is from a ’70s-themed party when they first met, Linda still loves to dance!
How they stay connected: “We love to watch sports together, go for walks with our sweet puppy Bella and go to the driving range to practice golf.”

Couple: Richard and Elizabeth — Richard is a member of our Adult Day Club
Years married: 62
Fun Fact: They met on a blind date and married after three months of dating!
How they stay connected: “We enjoy spending time together with our family, laughing and playing games, we cherish every moment. We are blessed with many smiles and lots of kisses.”

Couple: Bill and Weezie — Weezie is a member of our Adult Day Club
Years married: 52
Fun fact: Weezie and Bill met in high school but went their separate ways. Years later, when Weezie was in the Glee Club at her all-girls college, she attended a concert at Bill’s college and looked him up. They began dating and never looked back!
How they stay connected: “Laughing helps us stay connected. Since we have been together so long, we know almost everything about each other. We will use pieces of memories and funny stories and burst out laughing. When this happens, which is every day, I feel the deep bond that we share and the love we have for each other.”

Couple: Lisa and Chris — Chris is a member of our Adult Day Club
Years married: 32
Fun fact: They met because Chris became friends with Lisa’s brother!
How they stay connected: “We watch our favorite shows, ‘Seinfeld’ (ask us about any line… we know it!) and ‘Survivor’ (we’ve watched every episode of all 50 seasons). We go for walks, get together with family, rewatch classic movies, and we are so excited to become first-time grandparents in May!”