Here’s something a little Notebook-esque for you!
If you’ve watched that movie, you know what’s coming up is about to be pretty sad but filled with a lot of love.
Gordon and Norma Yeager of Des Moines, Iowa were married for 72 years before they died last week from a tragic car accident.
According to Sgt. Joel Ehler, the couple pulled “away from the stop sign and failed to yield to a westbound vehicle. The driver of the other car was unable to stop to avoid a collision.”
The couple ended up in the hospital where, as their conditions deteriorated, they were moved into a room together to rest side-by-side so they could hold hands.
Gordon passed away at 3:38pm, surrounded by family and still holding hands with Norma.
According to the family, this happened right after:
It was really strange, they were holding hands, and dad stopped breathing but I couldn’t figure out what was going on because the heart monitor was still going. But we were like, he isn’t breathing. How does he still have a heart beat? The nurse checked and said that’s because they were holding hands and it’s going through them. Her heart was beating through him and picking it up.
Norma died an hour later, still holding hands with the love of her life.
The family said they felt very blessed they could die together, surrounded by love:
Neither one of them would’ve wanted to be without each other. I couldn’t figure out how it was going to work. We were very blessed, honestly, that they went this way.
They recall Gordan always saying how he wished he wouldn’t leave this world without his wife:
I have to stick around. I can’t go until she does because I have to stay here for her and she would say the same thing.
Wow…
That’s a lot to take in! We really wish the accident didn’t happen, but at least they were able to be together in the end. At least they both had long, happy lives.
As for the other couple involved in the car crash, our thoughts are very much with them. The husband was quickly released from the hospital, but his wife, though stable, is still being treated in critical care. We wish with all we have she makes it out as quickly as she possibly can.
