Lou and Patricia DeMuro, both age 84, passed away on the same day, five hours apart, in two different locations in La Mesa after a 62-year marriage. The natives of Chicago enjoyed a fond companionship with each other, and neither wanted to live without the other.

On the day before they died, their daughter Jan Griffin of La Mesa arranged for an ambulance to bring Lou from the retirement home to Sharp Grossmont Hospital to say goodbye to Patricia. Lying in the gurney, Lou was wheeled next to Patricia’s hospital bed so they could look at each other and hold hands. During their visit, Lou didn’t say much, but Patricia removed the breathing ventilator mask momentarily to say, “I love you, so long, I’ll see you in another place.”

Then, Lou returned to the retirement home, but he didn’t sleep that night and he refused to eat. The next day, at the same hour when Patricia passed, Lou’s breathing changed visibly, weaker and irregular. Five hours later, before the sun set, both Lou and Patricia were gone.

Would you rather go first? Or have your spouse go first? Why?

Do you have a story similar to this one?

Or did something strange happen when a loved one passed?

Melanie Hack
Author of Who Killed My Sister, My friend
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