Finding Love After Spouse Dies

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.

– Lao Tzu

Aging in Place

The other day I was fortunate enough to care for a guy who was 62 and athletic. The patient had surgery and when he woke up from anesthesia, was cheerful and doing great!

I saw on his chart the contact person was identified as “His Sweetheart” and most of the time it’s a spouse. So, I asked if they were one in the same, he informed me that “Linda” (not her real name) was not his wife, but a girlfriend.

When I went to the lobby to get her, Linda told me they had met on a golf course several years ago. She had lost her husband of many years and the patient, let’s just call him “Jim,” lost his wife to ALS. He was her longtime caregiver. They found Love on the green! 

The way these two attended to each other was beautiful. So often, especially when I worked in Intensive Care, I witnessed tender moments between couples only love could explain.
I was so taken by their palpable care for each other it reminded me that love has no expiration date.