Virginia woman dies moments after crawling next to husband who died in his sleep: 'Not gonna let him go alone'
A Virginia woman died of heartbreak just minutes after the death of her husband of 70 years as she lay by his side and said she could not go on without him. 86-year-old Kathleen Atkins passed away after crawling onto the bedside of 90-year-old husband Richard Atkins, the love of her life, on August 4. "I'm not gonna let him go alone," were Kathleen's last words, according to her family, who described the couple as the "most perfect love story."
Speaking to WRAL, their son Les Atkins said the loss of both his parents in one day was like "being in the middle of both a horror movie and a beautiful love story." "She told my sister that she could not imagine life without him," he said of his mother.
Les shared their love story on Facebook, noting how the couple had "raised four children, ran a successful business with a high school education, and cared for so many in the community over the years."
"This quote from the movie 'The Notebook' sums up their beautiful story: 'I am nothing special, of this I am sure. I am a common man with common thoughts and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten. But I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough," he wrote
Kathleen and Richard took the holy vows on the front porch of her family's farmhouse in 1950. They bought their own family home just days later.
"That's just where life happened from them," Les said.
The couple ran their business Atkins Taxi and Richard "was known for his kindness to everyone he met," according to the family obituary. "The two enjoyed life, always doing right by others and helping those they could," it added.
The couple would go on to have four children, six grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren. However, Richard was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago. "He continued to work. He did not want to give up working," Les said of his father.
After being hospitalized in July, Richard was determined to be discharged in time to celebrate his 70th wedding anniversary with Kathleen. "He called me and said, 'I prayed to God all night and all day that I can leave this hospital, and I will be out of here in the morning.' This was the day before their anniversary," the heartbroken son continued.
The 90-year-old finally did make it home in time, but began to feel weak again shortly after. Richard died in the early hours of the morning of August 4. "Then, within a matter of minutes, my sister called back and said my mom had crawled in the bed with him and was overcome with grief," Les recounted. "They did not want to go alone. They had endured this life together. They had this strong faith, and they just refused to be apart. It's a fairy tale in every sense of the word."
Les remembered how they came across another line of wisdom while sorting through their mother's papers. "'Do the best that you can do.' I think that's all they did for 70 years. They did the best they could do," he said of their life together.