Through 51 years and memory loss, Valentine couple sticks together
“Love never ends and a commitment is a commitment. I don’t believe in divorce, and I told Kathy right off we’re in it to the end,” Steve Edwards said.
Steve and his wife of 51 years, Kathy, are residents of Morning Pointe Assisted Living in Hardin Valley.
Kathy lives with memory loss. When she was admitted to Morning Pointe Assisted Living Memory Unit, Steve refused to be separated from his wife and admitted himself to help take care of her.
They are the dynamic duo of the facility.
The pair met 51 years ago in Old Hickory, Tennessee.
Steve asked a friend to go out with him. She had plans but said she had a friend he might like and they could double date.
Enter Kathy.
They hit it off big the very first night.
Steve said he knew right away she was the one because she has a sweet disposition.
The couples met and went out to eat and to a movie, then back to Kathy’s friend’s house to get to know each other.
Finally, the time came to leave, but Steve didn’t take Kathy home. He took her to Old Hickory Lake near Nashville. There they talked for hours until the sun came up, learning they had a lot in common.
“We were just talking, getting to know each other and the next thing we knew the sun was coming up. I knew I had to get Kathy home. She was living with her grandmother. When I got Kathy home her grandmother was madder than a wet hen.”
From then on he was the bad boy, and it took him a little while to get in good graces. He finally did when Kathy’s mother and grandmother made him a chocolate pie. It was time to get married.
As with many love connections, the pair had actually met previously. They went to high school together and were in the same study hall. Kathy never got his attention while they were in school, but there beneath the moonlight talking about anything and everything, they fell in love.
He proposed to Kathy in a casual way, just sitting in the car.
“I didn’t get down on one knee or anything, but I did buy her a pretty engagement ring,” said Steve.
“She said ‘yes,’ and I laid all the cards out on the table and said, ‘If we’re going to do this, it’s going to be for the long haul.’”
Kathy agreed and they got married Sept. 7, 1973.
“It was a good time from the day we had the first date. We talk things out and we listen to each other. We met in June and got married in September. It was only a few months, but when you see something you like … you grab it!”
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville couple in assisted living stick together despite memory loss
