This is the touching moment an ex-husband and his wife with dementia are reunited in the same care home after spending 30 years apart – and even agree to go on a date.
Nancy, 86, and Stan, 91, both from Edinburgh, married in 1957 after entering into a ‘forbidden’ romance because their parents did not approve of their relationship.
However, when Nancy reached the age of 50, she was almost killed by a she suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and underwent life-changing surgery that would ultimately lead to the demise of her relationship with Stan.
After their separation, Nancy never wanted to meet anyone else, so she lived happily alone, while Stan met another woman in her 70s who became a “second mother” to his three children.
However, when they both turned 80, they began to develop signs of dementia to the point that they could no longer care for themselves. Her daughter Karen decided to move Nancy close to where she lived in the West Midlands.
Then, around Christmas, he also made the decision to put his father Stan, who suffered a fall while being treated in Scotland, in the same house as Nancy, which is where he captured the touching footage of their reunion.
In the clip, Nancy tells Stan that he’s “not bad looking for his age,” while her ex-husband responds, “I recognize your face but I couldn’t place who it was.” The couple then agree to go on a date together and have a cup of tea.
The emotional scenes echo those of the Hollywood cult classic, The Notebook, starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love in the 1940s. In the film, a pensioner tells a romantic story to a woman in a nursing home, who it later turns out was his dementia-stricken love interest all along.
Nancy, 86, speaks to her ex-husband Stan, 91, for the first time in 30 years after their separation following his brain hemorrhage.
Stan married Nancy in 1957 after beginning a ‘forbidden’ romance when they were children.
Towards the end of the footage, Nancy leans in to kiss Stan “for old times’ sake.”
Nancy and Stan on their wedding day. Her granddaughter Sarah-Ashleigh revealed that Nancy’s family did not attend the wedding because they did not approve of their relationship.
In a video published on Tik Tok By Karen’s daughter Sarah-Ashleigh, the viral clip, which has received 2.9 million views and more than 200,000 comments, shows Nancy entering Stan’s room while Karen films.
Speaking about the family’s decision to put her grandparents in the same care home, Sarah-Ashleigh, 36, told MailOnline: “We were really worried about how this would turn out. “It’s so good to see them being friends again.
‘Dementia is a horrible disease, but it’s moments like this that we really hold on to.
‘Grandma struggles a little more in general and gets anxious and confused, but I think having someone there that she knows has done wonders for her.
“She’s always looking for him (even when he’s right next to her) and they sit together a lot and argue like the married couple they used to be.
‘Love may not be the same kind of love forever, it changes forms, but it never goes away.
“Their marriage didn’t last forever, but seeing them have a friendship again shows that love never dies.”
Numerous people flooded the response section sharing their reaction to the emotional video, describing it as the ‘Real Life Notebook’.
In a later clip posted to Sarah-Ashleigh’s TikTok, Nancy can be seen sleeping in Stan’s bed while he falls asleep on a couch.
As the memory of the other slowly began to return, Nancy can be heard telling Stan, “You’re not bad looking for your age.”
The couple, who were born and raised in Edinburgh, photographed when they were younger.
One person wrote: “Brains struggle to remember, but their souls don’t.” Another said: “I think maybe you can witness them fall in love again.”
A third added: ‘Oh sweetheart… “You better give me a kiss for old times’ sake”… I’m crying… xx’
A fourth also shared: “This is so cute, I’m glad you have each other, dementia is a terrible disease, my mom had dementia.” Heartbreaking, but she never stopped smiling.’
The woman Stan met after his separation from Nancy is still alive and Sarah-Ashleigh described her as a big part of the family.
However, when Stan’s dementia diagnosis began to worsen, they were unable to live together and had to separate.
She added: “Grandpa still asks about his beloved at home and she is still part of the family, he misses him very much.”
In another clip posted to her TikTok, Sarah-Ashleigh showed Nancy sleeping in Stan’s bed while he slept in a chair. The couple have also met since then and enjoyed several ‘dates’ together.
Stan and Nancy photographed together on the beach when they were younger
Stan and Nancy’s granddaughter Sarah-Ashleigh has said being together has done “a lot of good” for her grandmother, who “gets anxious”.
The couple were pictured celebrating Christmas together shortly after Stan was moved to the West Midlands care home.
The full footage shows Nancy entering Stan’s room and asking “who is this?” before Karen says ‘that’s dad!’. Then after putting on her glasses, Nancy says to Karen “is that your dad?” before adding: “he’s not bad looking for his age.”
After Karen and Stan laugh, Nancy says, ‘Are you okay? Stay well and we’ll see you from time to time, eh?
Stan replies: ‘I’ve been seeing you wandering around here. I recognize your face but I couldn’t place who he was.
Nancy then adoringly asks Stan if he wants to go for a cup of tea sometime and he can “ask her out,” to which he says “yes.”
Karen says she goes to get a chair from the other room before Nancy leans over and gives Stan a kiss “for old times’ sake,” holding his hand. This causes Karen to leave the room and cry a little.
Stan, who served in the army for Scottish royalty, wrote a memoir about his life and his “forbidden” romance with Nancy that Sarah-Ashleigh hopes to one day share with the rest of the world.
