Ask anyone who has had to watch a loved one suffer from it and they’ll tell you just how terrible dementia is.
For those fortunate enough not to have experienced its devastating effects, can you imagine what it must be like to witness someone slowly slip away, remaining here in their physical form but being unable to recollect all of the memories that make them who they are?
Anne Duncan knows it only too well. Her 71-year-old husband, Bill, suffers from the condition. The pair have been together for 18 years, but over the course of the past decade Bill has been steadily forgetting parts of their life.
Which is why when Bill, who struggles to talk, asked Anne to marry him, she was more than just a little bit surprised.
According to reports, Anne explained: “We’d been to a family member’s wedding earlier in the month, and clearly it touched Bill as he turned to me not long after and said that he wanted to be with me forever.
“He asked me when would we be walking up the aisle together, and I thought he would just forget he’d asked me that, but then the next day he said it again.
“I had some friends coming over on the weekend and thought that would be the perfect time to have our second wedding, if Bill still wanted to by then.
“Every day, he asked me about our wedding, and finally on 17 August, I walked down the aisle with my wonderful husband, 12 years after our first wedding.”
STV News ^ | https://t.co/fz9YuQg92b | I re-do! Dementia sufferer remarries wife as new partner
By Laura Alderman
A dementia sufferer has remarried his wife after becoming convinced she's his new girlfriend.
Bill Duncan from Aberdeen was diagnosed with the disease, which era…
— Internet Magazine (@Scotland4me) August 21, 2019
Anne and Bill first met each other back in 2001, when Bill was living and working in Aberdeen, Scotland. The couple decided to get married in 2007, and for a time life was blissful.
Sadly, however, just three years after tying the knot the first time, Anne started to notice a strangeness to Bill’s behavior. After deciding to take the matter up with medical professionals, the couple were dealt the very harshest of blows: Bill was suffering from dementia.
For the past nine years Bill’s condition has been steadily deteriorating, but Anne insists their love is a strong as ever.
Which is what makes their second marriage even more special.
“Our friends pitched in to help with decorating the garden and providing a wedding cake, and my daughter Andrea convinced me to get a dress for the day too,” Anne said.
“We renewed our vows surrounded by a small group of our friends and family, and even added some bits in for Bill so it felt like he really was getting married.
“It was the most beautiful day, and being with our friends in the garden we share together made it all the more perfect.”
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 says that Bill has been in good spirits since the couple’s second wedding.
She said: “Bill has been so affectionate ever since I accepted his proposal, lavishing me in kisses and cuddles.
“Since his diagnosis, his displays of affection have become scarce, so to have all of this love radiating from him towards me has been truly wonderful.
“Our ceremony in the garden was very emotional, and I’m just so happy that he still loves me this much after all these years of battling dementia.
“Bill is a wonderful man and has always brought joy to other people’s lives throughout his career as an entertainer, and he’ll never stop bringing joy to mine.”
Well that was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Congratulations on your second marriage, Anne and Bill, we wish you all the very best in the future.
Share this article if you, too, want to wish the couple well!
