A couple that was married for more than 50 years died Wednesday within hours of each other.
Sound familiar?
This story comes to us from the Yakima Herald-Republic. Yet in February, we had a similar situation. I was blessed to tell the tale of the magical Mosers, who died at their Kingston home within six hours apart.
In that story, we got to talk about this unique occurrence, albeit one that has likely touched us all at some point:
University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor Terry Trevino-Richard once studied the phenomenon, in a research article titled “Death Timing Among Deceased Married Couples in a Southern Cemetery.”
“There is ample evidence that individuals may subconsciously or deliberately hasten or postpone their own death by aiming towards a psychologically important date,” he wrote.
My ex in-laws, also married 50 years, died within 24 hours of each other in 1995. We knew that she had only days left to live, but suprisingly to us all, he died of a heart attack first, on Saturday; and she died the next day from complications of diabetes and other terminal medical conditions.