COVID-19 is keeping many elderly couples apart, but Bill Bell isn't going to let something like a deadly virus stop him from seeing Mary, his wife of 70 years.
They’ve never been apart in the decades since they wed Sept. 6, 1950 in Scotland, but with COVID-19 taking its toll, particularly on the elderly and those in nursing homes, Bell, 94, has to take extra precautions to visit his wife at a Coquitlam care home.
So on Friday, he donned a mask, had his temperature taken and sat six feet apart from his life partner at Dufferin Care Centre.
It was supposed to be a happy occasion, but having to sit so far away from Mary while wearing a mask is challenging.
However, those protocols are necessary to keep both safe, especially since Dufferin was the site of the Tri-Cities’ largest coronavirus nursing home outbreak in May.
The outbreak has since been contained, but not before four people died. More than 20 people were at one point infected at the facility, including 14 residents and eight staff.
During that entire time Bell worried about his wife, who at the age of 90 has dementia and uses a wheel chair.
“Every day he would ask me, ‘When am I going to be able to see mom,’” said son, Gary, describing the strong bond between his parents who built homes together, she doing the clean-up and looking after two boys while he did the carpentry.
“The last time my dad held her hand was March 12. Then COVID happened and all hell broke loose,” son Gary recalls.
Now, care homes across B.C. are letting family members in for a visit, but strict protocols are in place.
For the Bell family, that meant Bill was allowed in for a short visit while the rest of the family had to wave to Mary from outside a window.
The visit was the best that could be managed at this time, but a far cry from past celebrations at local parks and the Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club in Coquitlam, when a premier, prime minster and the Queen sent their best wishes via a letter.
This time there was no crowd of family, friends and co-workers to remember how Bill helped build Coquitlam Centre and Mary worked at Sears in the ladies-wear department and volunteered for the Dogwood Pavilion and the Royal Columbian Hospital gift shop.
Still, Bell doesn’t complain about the visit, and said he is pleased that it happened.
“It’s not very good but it’s OK…She was smiling.”
