Wife Takes Dishwashing Job To See Her Husband With Alzheimer’s

It is difficult when we are separated from loved ones, let alone being separated for over 100 days.

That was the experience of a woman named Mary Daniel. She wanted to visit her husband and she promised him she would be there with him to hold his hand.

Steve is suffering from early-onset Alzheimer’s. At this point, he is in a nursing home in a memory care unit and visitors are not around. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed orders that keep visitors from going into nursing homes due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Daniel says, according to First Coast News: “We tried a window visit. He just cried. You can’t explain it to him.”

This is nothing new, there are also other families who are suffering in the same way. They have to watch loved ones who suffer from dementia going downhill, both physically and mentally.

“He’s lost 10 pounds,” she says.

When her story ended up on First Coast News, the corporate office of the nursing facility got in touch with her. It was then that she was offered a job as a dishwasher and she really appreciates the opportunity.

This couple spent 114 days apart from each other but she was finally able to reunite with him.

“He was teary-eyed,” she says. “He touched my face, even with my mask on.”

She was concerned that he might not remember her after being apart for so many days. When they met, he did more than remember her, he even called her by name!

Daniel was upset that an additional 60 days were added to the executive order. It keeps visitors from going into nursing homes and with the additional time apart from their loved ones, it could mean up to six months apart for many families.

“Six months is too long,” she says.

In order to speak out on the situation, she started a Facebook group called “Caregivers for Compromise because isolation kills too!”

She wants to organize so the governor knows just how they feel about the situation. The group is trying to get the state to communicate plans with families, including the criteria associated with opening nursing homes.