Juanita Pierson and Albert Johnson were just neighbors at the Oak Ridge Convalescent Center in Richmond, Ind., until the day he asked her if she'd like to watch the news on television with him.
"He pulled my wheelchair over to the door of his room," Pierson said. With a smile, she added: "I can't say it's been just to the door since."They were married this week after a five-month courtship. Pierson, 79, is a lifelong Richmond resident who was married for 50 years. Johnson, 82, has lived there since 1924 and was married for 52 years. Both are widowed, have five children and suffered strokes that confine them to wheelchairs.
"We decided we needed each other," he said.
Janice Spainhour, assistant director of nursing services, said the staff has been watching the relationship grow. "We knew there was a romance in the building and we all loved it," she said.