Carl and Mary Jane Gacono have been married for almost 68 years. Sadly, in recent years, Mary Jane has been suffering from dementia, and Carl has stepped up since then to help her in a huge way.

Carl, 88, has refused to send his wife to a nursing home, so he has been caring for her himself at their Annville, Pennsylvania home. When Carl recently had to go to a doctor’s appointment one morning, he called his daughter Becky to have her watch Mary Jane. It was only then that Becky saw how intricate her loving father’s morning routine for her mother is.

“I went over in the morning to help her get ready because he was heading out,” said Becky. “That’s his morning routine: getting her to the bathroom, helping her shower, getting her dressed, getting her breakfast and then just being with her throughout the day.”

Carl explained to his daughter that putting on Mary Jane’s jewelry is one of the most important parts of the routine, telling her, “Don’t forget the bracelet with the heart goes on the left with her watch. The other two bracelets go on the right.”

“People with dementia … when things are out of order, it tends to make things a little bit harder. So [Carl] tends to keep to a routine that she is used to,” Becky said.

“She likes to have her jewelry on. Her necklaces and her bracelet and her watch, then on her other arm are her other bracelets,” Becky continued. “She brushes her hair and then after they’re done with all of that, they head out to eat breakfast together at the table.”

Becky went on to say that Mary Jane has always been her father’s “biggest cheerleader.”

“She dedicated her life to loving him and supporting him in all his dreams and being successful. I do think he feels that now it’s his turn,” she said. “He never regrets a day that he has with her, I believed that wholeheartedly. But I do believe he’s tired, exhausted and doing the best he can.”

Becky and her siblings have been stepping up to the plate to take care of their mother more lately, as her father is clearly very “tired” and “exhausted.”

“My dad really struggles some days being exhausted and watching his wife who he dearly loves slip away. But he’s doing the best he can,” Becky said. “It’s unconditional love without a doubt. And I think the epitome of unconditional love. He has just been amazing through all this, they’ve always been madly in love with each other.”

It warms my heart to see how devoted these two are as a couple. We hope that they will have many more years to come!