Husband wishes wife happy anniversary from outside nursing home as COVID-19 keeps them apart

A coronavirus guidance that banned public visitors to nursing homes didn’t stop a Vernon, Connecticut, man from celebrating his 67th wedding anniversary over the weekend.

Instead of seeing his wife in person, he made her a sign and stood outside her window. 

“It makes me feel bad because I want her down with me and I know she can’t be,” Bob Shellard told NBC News Connecticut.

Over the weekend, Shellard stood outside his wife’s nursing home window with balloons and a sign that reads: “I’ve loved you 67 years and still do. Happy Anniversary.”

Health officials have said amid the coronavirus pandemic that those over 60 are at high risk of becoming severely ill if they contract COVID-19, prompting nursing homes and senior living communities across the nation to limit public visitors. 

Prior to the new guidance banning public visitors, Shellard says he visited his wife Nancy — who reportedly suffers from Alzheimer’s and dementia — every day. 

Nancy could be seen waving and blowing kisses from her window when she saw the sign. 

“I wouldn’t want anybody else,” Shellard said about his wife. “I don’t think she could put up with anybody else besides me.”

His daughter told NBC News Connecticut that their relationship has “been an example for us, for all of us of kids.”