Some couples give you hope that love and good things still exist. This is the story of a couple who meant what they said when they got married. When the wife got sick, the husband stayed by her side just as he did when she was well.
Andy Fierlit went to a church dance in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, in the year 1958. When the teenager saw Donna, he fell in love at first sight. He asked Donna for a piece of gum, and that’s when the rest of their lives together began.
In 1966, they got married. Before that, they had been best friends since high school. They were happy together for many years and had four children, so they were a family of six. Now, they also have 12 grandchildren.
Donna had a brain aneurysm when she was only 45 years old. At a Christmas party, she got a migraine and decided to sleep it off. The next day, she had a major aneurysm that changed the course of her life. The aneurysm left her partially paralyzed, and doctors told Andy to put her in a nursing home because taking care of her would be hard on him and his family.
But when Andy heard what the doctor said, he could only think of his wedding vows. He didn’t want to put his much-loved wife in a nursing home.
Now that Donna is 76, she has been in a wheelchair for 30 years. In that time, she has seen more of the world than most people do in their whole lives, even though she is stuck in a wheelchair.
All of this was because of her husband Andy, who still loves her.
Andy says, “Sure, it’s hard, but I’ve loved Donna since the first day I met her, and I can’t imagine doing anything else.” The couple has always wanted to see the whole world together, and they have now been to all seven continents.
Andy says this about his wife: “Donna isn’t mobile and she has short-term memory problems, but she can tell you her father’s license plate from 1955, and she’s a lot of fun to travel with. We love each other very much, and we’ve always thought, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”
Andy Fierlit died in 2019, and Donna died the next year, in 2020, according to posts on the Facebook page of their daughter, Allison Fierlit Peters.
They were a real source of inspiration and a reminder that marriage vows are meant to be kept.
Tell your friends and family about this beautiful story of a love that lasts.