Jerry Lindell was rehabbing at a Minnesota nursing home when the facility locked down to protect its residents from the coronavirus -- blocking his wife of 63 years from visiting, according to a local report.
But he finished his rehab in time to surprise her on her 84th birthday last Thursday, heartwarming video shows.
“Hi honey,” a surprised Beverley Lindell exclaims as her husband, also 84, strides through their front door with a bouquet of flowers, as seen in cellphone video their daughter, Loriee Barnes, recorded.
“Happy birthday honey,” he responds.
At first, she appears hesitant to give him a hug, raising social distancing concerns, but as soon as he is within reach they enter into a warm embrace.
“I can’t hug you,” she says.
“Why can’t you?” he replies, taking her into his arms as she begins to cry tears of joy.
Barnes said she helped arrange the surprise in a Facebook post.
“We have had a rough year, but I brought my dad home from the nursing home for my mom’s birthday present,” she wrote. “Life is so awesome.”
Jerry Lindell was a patient at Meeker Manor Rehabilitation Center in Litchfield, Minn., when the facility went into lockdown to protect its residents from the threat of the coronavirus, according to KARE-TV.
Andrea Ross, the nursing home’s administrator, told the station that seeing the couple reunite on video meant a lot to her, her staff and other residents enduring separation from their own families amid the shutdown.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz issued a stay-at-home order on March 25 and has signed a $330 million COVID-19 response package as just part of the state’s attempts to slow the spread of the virus.
Minnesota had seen at least 789 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, with at least 22 deaths as of Friday afternoon.
