Reunited... after 70 years together & 100 days apart
Couple’s joy after spell in hospital
TWO childhood sweethearts forced to spend more than 100 days apart after seven decades together have been reunited at a care home.
Nursing staff said there wasn’t a dry eye among them as George and Joyce Bell held hands after being released from hospital, where they were admitted separately in June due to ill health. Joyce, 87, said: “I felt like a girl again. “I’ve loved the socks off him since I was 17. I can’t tell you how nice it was to see him again. I told him I’d always be there for him, no matter what. He held me tight and said he’d never leave me again for the rest of his life. Now we just sit quietly holding each other’s hand.
“We only ever had each other, that’s why it was so hard being apart.”
George, 89, said: “When we first got married, we were told we wouldn’t last. Now look at us.”
The couple grew up in Middlesbrough and lived next door but one.
They started dating when Joyce was 17 and got married four years later.
Joyce, who is recovering from a broken hip, recalled: “I admired him from afar.
“They said it wouldn’t last because George had no staying power... but they were very wrong. We have only ever been apart during his national service. I used to take him back to the station crying all over him. So being apart for this long has been really heartbreaking.
NERVOUS
“I couldn’t have children but we always had each other. I always remember the first time my mother saw him and said, ‘Oh no! Not that lad on the noisy motorbike’. He just looked at her and grinned – and from that minute she melted.”
Before they were admitted to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, the couple lived in a bungalow.
Rachel White, who works at Tollesby Hall Care Home, said: “Joyce came in the day before George. She’d lost track of how many days they hadn’t seen each other.
“Then on the morning he was coming in, she said she felt like a young girl again, like when they were first dating. She said she hadn’t been able to sleep. She was so excited and nervous.
“Everyone was in tears. A lot of people had to excuse themselves because they were so emotional. It has really touched the staff here. They’re lovely people.
“As soon as she saw him, Joyce started welling up. They were both reaching out for each other. They wanted to hold hands and have a cuddle.
“It was such a heartwarming moment. We are looking at getting them back in their home so they can return to their life together to carry on their fairytale.”
After his National Service, George became an electrician and Joyce worked as a window dresser. Asked about the secret to a long marriage, Joyce said: “Let them have their own way but sometimes you have to put your foot down, you have to with George. He’s been a wonderful husband.”
We’ve only ever had each other, that’s why it’s so hard being apart
JOYCE BELL AFTER BEING REUNITED WITH GEORGE