Couple Married for 70 Years Finally Reunited After Quarantining Apart From Each Other

After70 years of marriage, Jean and Walter Willard (89 and 91, respectively), never thought that they would spend the past few months apart due toCOVID-19. With strict lockdowns placed on nursing homes, the New York-based pair was forced to quarantine separately. But the couple found their happy ending last week, finally reuniting after weeks apart!

Before the pandemic hit, Jean was living at the Eddy Memorial Geriatric Center in Troy, New York while her husband, Walter, lived in their home a few minutes away. "My dad would go over there every day and spend most of every day. He was there all day from the morning until night when she went to bed,” the couple's daughter Wendy Willard toldCBS 6. But as was the case for nursing facilities across the country when coronavirus spread, Jean's geriatric center was put under a strictquarantine—and Walter could no longer visit his wife.

That's when Wendy, along with her sister Wanda Glenn, wrote a letter to the facility's director asking if Walter could move into his wife's room. “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.'” Wendy said. The director was able to make an exception, making thisheart-warming reunionpossible!

Walter began the reunion asking his wife if she was OK. She responded with "No. Because I miss you." They exchanged kisses, hugs and tears—and couldn't be happier to finally be in each other arms. The couple won't have to quarantine apart ever again, either, now that Jean and Walter a sharing a room at the facility. Are you crying yet? We're going to grab another box of tissues right now.