A man with Alzheimer's proposed to his wife, forgetting that they had been married for more than 30 years
68-year-old Michael Joyce with Alzheimer's disease forgot that he and his wife Linda have been married for 34 years, and proposed to her again. On Saturday in New Zealand, they made marriage vows to each other again, and Linda called this the best day of her life.
Joyce was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2010, followed by dysphasia (speech disorder). He began to lose his memories and eventually forgot that he and Linda were already married. On the night of December 14, a man came to his wife, he looked worried.
It came as a surprise to the woman that the next morning her husband remembered his proposal and reminded her about the upcoming marriage every day for another week. Linda said it was an incredible feat for him: "Michael put his confused mind together to ask me to marry him, and then he remembered it for six days. Obviously, this is the blessing we needed. I used to just love him, but now I admire him madly."
Linda decided that the wedding should be organized as soon as possible, and posted a request for the organization of the celebration on the New Zealand website Neighborly. She was amazed by the response she received: the community helped the couple to hold the ceremony in just a week. A priest and a photographer were quickly found.
Keywords: Illness | Marriage | New zealand | Memory | Romance | Wedding | Spouses