Anne and Bill Duncan have been married since 2007, but three years after the couple said “I do,” Bill was diagnosed with dementia, or a decline in mental ability that is often severe enough to interfere with daily activities and can cause memory loss, according to Alzheimer’s Association.
It’s been nine years since Bill was first diagnosed, and within the last year, Anne said he started to forget who she was.
In an interview with “This Morning,” she said, “It’s really been only the last year or so that I’ve lost Bill in the sense that he no longer knew who I was,” she explained. “He certainly didn’t know I was his wife.”
Nevertheless, she’s stuck by his side and cared for him, assuming that if he didn’t see her as his wife, he’d see her as someone who cared.
Despite everything, it turns out that Bill’s love for Anne never faded away. While he may not remember their first wedding day, it didn’t stop him from loving her, and he asked her to marry him again!
She explained the sweet and surprising moment to “This Morning,” saying, “Really and truly out of the blue, two and a half weeks ago, Bill became very amorous and loving, telling me he wanted me and he really, really liked me,” said Anne, who is from Scotland. “I said, ‘Bill, do you want to marry me?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and he was so relieved that I had finally worked out what he was trying to say.”
Anne thought her husband might simply forget he’d ever mentioned it, but he was persistent. So, she and her family and a close group of friends threw together a vow renewal that seemed like a real wedding to Bill, dress, cake and all.
Hear her version of the events in the full interview from the “This Morning” YouTube channel:
Scotland’s STV News tweeted a video of the special day when they married each other all over again, and it really did look like a beautiful wedding:
I re-do! Dementia sufferer Bill Duncan has remarried his wife Anne after becoming convinced she's his new girlfriend. https://t.co/SQLUPuZdqK pic.twitter.com/IOwaaSvORG
— STV News (@STVNews) August 21, 2019
Anne was truly surprised by her husband’s desire to marry her again, and it turned out to be a lovely day, she recalled on the set of “This Morning.”
Her son pointed out just how special this was.”It was quite emotional hearing about [Bill’s revelation],” he told “This Morning.” “It’s really moving.”
Anne hopes that others who have a loved one affected by dementia can take this as a sign to “keep [their] spirits up.”
Because love tends to find a way. Congratulations to the newlyweds!