Herbert and Audrey Goodine have spent the holidays together for the last 69 years – but that looks set to change after Herbert, 91, was told he had to move out of the care home before Christmas Day – leaving his wife, 89, behind.
Writing on Facebook, the couple’s daughter, Dianne Phillips said: “When talking to my parents yesterday I listened to my mother weep and I could hear my father in the background.
“My mother said, ‘Christmas is over for us now and this is the worst Christmas that we will ever have. Why could they not have waited till after the holidays?’”
Mrs Phillips said appeals to delay the move by a week to enable to the couple to spend Christmas Day together had been rejected.
She added: “I feel that is abuse to seniors.
“It’s emotional abuse. It might not be physical, but I do believe it is emotional.”
The care home, in New Brunswick, Canada, took the decision after an assessment which found Herbert needed a higher level of care than it was able to provide.
In a response to Mrs Phillips’ Facebook post, a spokesman said: “Once a resident is beyond our level and social development has reassessed to determine their level, I have to follow the rules and regulations set by the government.
“In fact, it’s against the law for me to not follow the rules and I could lose my licence. At this point the decision has been made and it is out of my hands.”
Mrs Phillips said the family would look for new accommodation where her parents can be together, but admitted this Christmas was likely to be a difficult one for the couple.
Last year, also in Canada, an elderly Canadian couple who had been married for 62 years were forced to move to separate care homes because there was no room for them at the same home, in Surrey, British Colombia.
A photo of Wolfram Gottschalk, 83, and his wife, Anita, 81, was widely circulated after their granddaughter shared their story.