When it became clear that their conditions were not improving, the couple was moved into a room together in beds side-by-side where they could hold hands.
“They joined hands; his right hand, her left hand,” Sheets said.
Gordon Yeager died at 3:38 p.m. He was no longer breathing, but the family was surprised by what his monitor showed.
“Someone in there said, ‘Why, then, when we look at the monitor is the heart still beating?’” Sheets recalled. “The nurse said Dad was picking up Mom’s heartbeat through Mom’s hand.”
“And we thought, ‘Oh my gosh, Mom’s heart is beating through him,’” Dennis Yeager said.
Norma Yeager died exactly an hour later.
“Dad used to say that a woman is always worth waiting for,” Dennis Yeager said. “Dad waited an hour for her and held the door for her.”