Since the coronavirus pandemic hit Spain, A crystal separates Xavier Antó and Carmen Panzano, the first period so long in the couple’s 65th wedding anniversary.
Antó, 90, comes three or four times a week to the street-side window overlooking the nursing home in Barcelona where his 92-year-old wife lives. The center closed to visitors over a year ago to protect its residents from COVID-19.
The housekeepers provide him with a chair and move Panzano to the other side of the window. Antó shows her pictures of his grandchildren and family on his phone to distract her a bit. She is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Both have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus, but nursing homes in Spain are still under strict control after thousands of them died in elderly care centers during the first months of the pandemic.
The couple met in 1953 and married in 1955. Except during an early period of their marriage, when he worked outside the home, they were always together. “We never broke up,” Antó told The Associated Press. Now “we’ve been separated for almost a year,” he adds.
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“Last March, a director of the house told me that if I left, I would not enter” because the local authorities “had very strict protocols in place and no one was allowed to enter.”
At first, domestic workers were video calling with a tablet two or three times a week so he and Panzano could see each other, he said.
“Then they installed above a parlor (booth) with a screen in the middle, but I prefer to be here (by the window) because with the screen they gave you a specific day and time, maximum 20-30 minutes per day, but you had to wait ”, confirms Antó. “At the screen I couldn’t shake his hand, I can’t kiss him, and well, here at the window I come when I can.”
When he visits her, they both put their hands on the glass and give kisses. While they can’t hear each other speak, at least they don’t care how much time they have left to share.
When Antó can’t come, a woman takes his place who worked for the couple for 26 years. “It’s like she’s our daughter,” she says.
“I usually come when I can and as long as the body holds, I’ll try to keep it that way. Because if I were the patient, she would do the same or more, ”said Antó.