When they first got married, Paul and Kris Scharoun-DeForge faced an uphill battle. Usually, when two people fall in love and get married, they get the support of the people around them. However, it wasn’t necessarily like that for Paul and Kris.
Even from the start, many didn’t think their marriage would work. When the two tied the knot in 1993, they were fully aware of the obstacles they would have to face as a couple. But 30 years down the line, all of the naysayers and doubters were proven wrong.
A Love Affair Built to Last
Sadly, Paul passed away in April 2019 after a long battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. But even up until the end, Paul and Kris were inseparable from one another.
Kris has recently opened up about the struggles of her relationship with Paul and the immense bond that the two shared despite their adversity. Throughout the decades that the two have stayed married, there was never a day wherein Paul failed to make Kris feel like she was the most important person to him.
In an interview with CBS, Kris talked about how the two got around to getting married in the first place.
“I proposed to him. “I whispered in his ear, ‘Would you marry me?’, and he looked up at me with this big beautiful smile and he shook his head ‘Yes!,’”
“And that’s when I knew. He got me laughing, he was the one for me.”
The Initial Struggles
Kris’s elder sister Susan talked about the initial struggles that the couple had to go through when they first got together. Since both of them had Down’s Syndrome, many didn’t think that the two of them would be able to sustain a functional relationship.
As a result, when they first got married, their love affair was met with resistance. But now, Kris hopes that their relationship will serve as a shining beacon of hope for people with disabilities.
She said:
“Yea, there really was quite a bit of resistance. There was a feeling that it was like children getting married versus two very capable adults,”
“What I hope is that other families will entertain this, you know, other people will recognize the importance of this kind of intimate love.”
Even the state of New York didn’t make it easy for the couple to get married. They were compelled to take a series of tests to assess their sexual knowledge and feelings to determine whether they were fit for marriage.
A Celebration of Love
Before Paul passed away, Kris and her loving husband were able to renew their vows on their 25th wedding anniversary in 2018. It was deemed to be the longest Down’s Syndrome marriage to have ever been recorded in recent history.
Even when Paul passed a year after they renewed their vows, Kris never stopped loving him.
Such a heartwarming story, don’t you think? It just shows that love can come in many different shapes and forms. Comment your thoughts down below.
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I wish he stayed with her until the end of the World . 😓she is precious strong women .with respect 🙏May GOD BLESSING YOU
Our marriage has a similar situation
Downs syndrome people are the best people in the world. I love them.
Beautiful story. True love is what matters. Let no man put asunder.
What a beautiful love story, a great example of how to love one another!