Couple Married For 62 Years And Forced To Live Apart, Burst Into Tears When They See Each Other

After 62 years together, Wolfram Gottschalk and his wife Anita are being forced to live apart. But whenever they get a chance to visit one another, they burst into tears.

Their heartbreaking situation was captured in a photo by their granddaughter, Ashley Bartyik, that has gone viral after she posted it on Facebook. The picture shows the elderly couple wiping away tears from their faces as they sit together in a care facility in British Columbia, Canada.

“This is the saddest photo I have ever taken,” Ashley writes. “They cry every time they see each other, and it is heartbreaking.”

Wolfram is 83 and has dementia and was recently diagnosed with lymphoma. He has had to live in a separate care facility from Anita, 81, for the past 8 months because of his health needs. The regional health authority in Surrey, British Columbia, is working to reunite the couple, but their family fears that time is running out for the pair to spend their remaining time together.

Ashley says of her Opi, “His Dementia is growing ever stronger each day, but his memory of my grandmother has not faded a inch…yet. We are afraid however that if they are living apart much longer, his memory of her won’t stay.”

The family makes the 30 minute trek between the two care facilities to help the married couple have a chance to see each other. Ashley says her family has appealed to various regional and local government and health authorities but is now appealing to her friends and people to help get her grandparents back together.

Update: September 24, 2016

There were plenty of tears when Wolfram and Anita saw each other again, but this time they were tears of joy. The elderly couple have been reunited at a care facility after their granddaughter’s heartbreaking photo went viral.

The Gottschalk family released a statement thanking the local health authority and “everyone around the world” for the family reunion.

“Thursday, our family joyfully witnessed the reunification of Wolfram and Anita Gottschalk,” the statement read.

They shared a brief clip of the heartwarming reunion.

“The reunion saw tears of joy for all involved,” wrote the family. “They can now be under the same roof for their remaining years.”

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