Couple renews vows after 64 years, eliciting tears at memory care home

Seeing his bride in a wedding veil and walking down the aisle as musicians played the wedding march became a little too much for Norman Corfield, and he began to weep at his wedding vow renewal ceremony with his wife Catherine Corfield.

The couple was celebrating their 64-year anniversary. Their living arrangements have changed over the years, though —  Norman Corfield now lives at a Glenview memory care home and his wife visits him.

“I think it’s the music…he loves music,” Catherine Corfield explained to an employee at Emerald Place Memory Care, which primarily serves patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The Corfields were joined by Ann and Barrett Feeney in renewing their wedding vows, with the Feeneys celebrating their 50-year anniversary. Ann Feeney resides at Emerald Place, and Barrett visits.

The June 27 ceremony was organized by Emerald Place to commemorate the regular wedding season and to build community in the facility, according to Life Engagement Director Jaime Vahhaji.

“I wanted to think of an event to get everyone in the community together, and I knew that we had multiple couples that had been married for many, many years. And so I thought, ‘what’s better in bringing people together than having a wedding ceremony?’” Vahhaji said.

Residents at Emerald Place typically have some form of memory loss due to dementia or Alzheimer’s, according to Vahhaji.

Vahhaji said she could physically see Emerald Place residents’ moods turn for the better during the ceremony.

“With memories, I think a lot of times [patients] are more visual. I could tell with Ann, when she was walking down the aisle, when she saw Barrett, I saw her face light up,” she said.

Even in the face of Alzheimer’s, Vahhaji said the ceremony was able to unlock something within their patients that let them know they still love their spouses.

It’s possible that the music at the vow renewal ceremony could have helped bring forth the patients’ memories, according to Music Therapist Marcos Ahlman.

“Sometimes people [with Alzheimer’s] don’t even know their own names or their family members, but they can still remember all the lyrics to a song, and it evokes memories and feelings and it just transports you back,” he said.

Ahlman also said it’s not uncommon for people to get emotional for those type of ceremonies, given that there are situations where Alzheimer’s patients might not always live with their spouses.

After the ceremony, the Feeneys spoke to Pioneer Press as they ate cake and played a wedding-inspired Bingo game.

“We’re very lucky to be together for 50 years,” Barrett Feeney said, when asked what he was thinking about when he was walking down the aisle. “A lot of good memories of the wonderful life that we’ve had together.”