“Till Death Do Us Part” only sounds like a movie dialogue because, in reality, things don’t work this way, and nobody dies for anyone. However, a couple in Texas proved that this type of love doesn’t only exist in novels and movies but can also exist in real life.
Tom and Delma Ledbetter, a married couple who lived in Florida and spent the last 62 years of their lives together, died with a difference of only ninety minutes from each other. Doctors reported that they were holding hands as they died.
“It was exactly how they wanted to go. It couldn’t have been any better,” their daughter Donetta Nichols told Click2Houston. Tom was 84 years old, and Delma was 82 years old at the time of their death. They both died on April 21 in Texas.
One of their two daughters named Nichols shared that her parents first met each other when they were in their early 20s, “they were introduced to each other by their mutual friends who also lived in Florida. Their first ‘date’ was barely even a “date” and it took place while Tom was moving his car one day.”
Nichols recalled the story her parents used to tell her, “They drove around two, three different blocks or whatever and they came back and they parked, he reached over and he grabbed her hand and he said, ‘I don’t know what made me do it.'” He said, “I just reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.”
“And that’s how their relationship began and they got married just three after weeks of their first date, can you imagine?” she smiled.
According to their obituary, after Tom’s retirement, he and Delma traveled around the US, and they spent their twilight years going from campsite to campsite.
“It was only last month when my mother became sick, we consulted different doctors however her health didn’t recover.”
“They couldn’t get a pulse. They couldn’t get blood pressure. They couldn’t get anything. Yet mama was just hanging on to something,” Nichols teared up. “That something must have been her husband, my dad.”
“He fell ill just a few days after mama and we got him over to the nursing home with her,” she continued. “They had pushed their little beds together and she was laying right there, facing him. She was asleep and Daddy her hand and he just laid there with her, and it was so sweet.”
Finally, on April 21, they passed away. She added as tears rolled down her eyes.
“Together for 62 years here on earth and now they will continue to share their love in Heaven.”
One of the couple’s granddaughters, Stephanie Rutkowski, posted on Facebook:
“My papa and nanny both passed away today holding each other’s hands a little over an hour apart. What a blessing for them to be able to go together!”
The couple had two daughters, seven grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. They are now buried side-by-side at Restwood Memorial Park in Clute, Texas.
What are your thoughts on this true and pure love story? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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