This week, Kelli Taylor of Mount Juliet, Tennessee, shared a tweet about her parents that's touching hearts all over the world.
The tweet displays a photo of her mother, Phyllis Feener, curled up in the arms of her husband, Stan, with the following caption:
"My parents have been married for 34 years. My mom is in the final stages of young onset dementia (diagnosed 5 years ago at 53). My dad cares for her full-time. She doesn't always remember his name but she knows she is safe with him. If that's not true love, I don't know what is."
My parents have been married for 34 years. My mom is in the final stages of young onset dementia (diagnosed 5 years ago at 53). My dad cares for her full-time. She doesn't always remember his name but she knows she is safe with him. If that's not true love, I don't know what is. pic.twitter.com/8oW2n4mGza
— Kelli Taylor (@keenertaylor) April 26, 2018
The incredibly poignant tweet went massively viral, and inspired others to share their own stories of true love in the face of harrowing illnesses.
"My mom passed from a fast moving, incurable neurological disease," Katie Hileman wrote. "I will forever treasure a similar photo of my parents. Mom didn't know who dad was, but she smiled so big and cuddled into him when he got home from work. Somewhere deep down, she KNEW. Hugs to you all."
"That has to be heart breaking," Darrel Parks wrote. "My wife died of cancer eleven years ago. Even near the end, when I thought she didn't know me, I asked her who I was. She said my name, & "you're my husband". She said it like she was proud of it. Made it a little easier for me."
The following day, Taylor tweeted to say that she was "overwhelmed" by the response to her tweet, and that she was reading through all the replies to this with tears running down her face.
She also tweeted out her mother's GoFundMe page, which provides more of a backstory to the terrible disease that cost her mother her memory:
"Our lives changed in 2012 when Phyllis began having trouble with tasks at work. At first we believed it was simple memory loss due to menopause. However, after being released from her job, Phyllis turned to medical tests to determine what was causing this loss of memory. In 2013, Phyllis was diagnosed with a subtype of dementia -- a shocking diagnosis for a 52-years-young woman… and for her family."
The page goes on to say that they've been informed by neurologists that there is no cure for dementia and that medication would only slow down her progress.
"Today, Phyllis' condition has progressed to a point that she cannot be left alone. She is unable to perform simple tasks like pouring a bowl of cereal or dressing herself, has trouble communicating her thoughts and needs, and has forgotten names of family members. "
Luckily, Stan has a job that enables him to work from home, so he cares for her 24/7. As Taylor noted in her original tweet, even if she doesn't always remember who he is, she knows she feels safe with him. And yes, that is true love.
For more posts about real, lasting love, read this story about another viral tweet showing the lengths a husband will go to make his wife happy. And to learn more about dementia, and how to help prevent it, read the Shocking Link Between Daytime Sleepiness and Alzheimer's.
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