A man and wife who were married for more than seven decades died hours apart this week at a hospice in northern Illinois.
Family members say Robert and Nora Viands were always together during their 71 years of marriage. Their son calls their deaths — 16 hours apart at a Rockford retirement center— a “blessing” because each would have been heartbroken without the other.
The Rockford Register Star reports that 92-year-old Robert Viands died around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Nora Viands died at 4:45 p.m. She was hospitalized with pneumonia in December.
The Viands’ children decided to put their parents in the same room at the hospice for their final hours.
A joint funeral will be held Sunday.
(AP)
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6 Responses
If only jewish people could be married for that long. I’m sure that they argued a lot. Now, jewish people can’t even get married. Everyone thinks that they are to perfect. Guess what, you’re not and neither is your spouse to be. Girls and guys have to realize that not even their parents, teachers, or Rebbis are perfect. It’s not a shidduch crisis. It’s a middos crises. IY’H we should all be zoche to be married that long. Only could happen if you are married by age 22 ish. Oh well. By the way, I was.
Whoever wrote the first comment obviously does not know what they are talking about. I know many people that have superb Middos and they have just not found that right one yet. It has nothing to do with getting married early 22 ish. You should rethink what you say.
I also got married at 22. Dumbest thing I ever did…
This happens more often than one would think to couples married for a very long time. Some people want to say its a “medical” thing, but Bereishis 2:24 refers to the spiritual plane, not the physical.
I never meant that we have to be married by 22. I only meant that for one to be married for 71 years, you would have had to get married by 22 ish. And yes it is a middos crises. I also know amazing people who are not married. And they think that they could get better. Or they are honestly scared to commit. I know a 31 year old girl who has superb middos who happenes to be petrified of , as she put it, taking the plung. And FYI, I rethink everything I say and do. If would you think about it, I’m 100% right. A gadol haddor has said it also.
Oops. If you would