Man falls in love with his wife again

One Saturday evening last December, as Peter and Lisa Marshall cuddled on the couch watching their favorite television show, Peter looked at Lisa and asked if she would marry him.

What Peter, 56, didn’t remember was that they were already married.

Diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s three years ago, Peter had begun losing his memories — even those of his fairytale romance.

He had forgotten the first time they met, held hands, shared a kiss. He had also forgotten their wedding.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Lisa, 54, told CNN. “We’ve made new memories, but it hurts because I always want to say ‘Remember that one time?’ I want to reminisce with him, but Peter can’t remember anything now, much less what happened 20 years ago.”

The couple, who have been married for 12 years, met as neighbors in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Both were married to other partners at the time and busy raising their children, but they forged a friendship and remained close until Peter’s family moved to Connecticut.

After nearly a year without contact, the two reconnected when they discovered they were each going through divorces. After just one rendezvous in Harrisburg, the two quickly became inseparable and remained in an eight-year, long-distance relationship until all their children entered college.

Lisa described the relationship as a whirlwind romance. When asked what she loves the most about her husband, she paused, holding back tears.

“The way he loves me,” she said. “He’s so kind, so gentle, so flirty and fun and romantic. He’s always been so passionate about our relationship. About me.”

In 2009, Lisa moved to Connecticut and the couple married.

‘Something was wrong’

Lisa said it was easy to see that something about her husband was changing, but coming to terms with their new reality was difficult.

It began when he kept forgetting his keys. Then his wallet. Then he began to forget words and what they meant. At times, he struggled to put together sentences.

She kept telling herself it was just because they were getting older.

“It was my little secret to ignore until friends and family members started making comments, too, and then I knew it was something real,” Lisa said. “People who hadn’t seen Peter in a while immediately noticed something was wrong.”

After extensive testing, Peter was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease on April 30, 2018.

“I didn’t understand until I started researching and realized this was going to have a profound impact on our lives, and it was going to take my husband,” Lisa said.

The disease quickly took over the couple’s life. Memories they thought would remain with them for a lifetime quickly disappeared for Peter. One of those cherished memories was his marriage.

The first time he forgot who his wife was they were on a trip to their rental home in Rhode Island, a regular getaway when they needed a beach escape.

“When we were on our way home one time, Peter was giving me directions and then kept saying things like, ‘This is the way to my home. Turn right to get to my house,’ as if I was a different driver and I didn’t know where we lived,” Lisa said.

“When we got home, he ran out to my side and opened my door for me, and walked me into our house and was so nervous showing me around,” she said. “It was adorable, but I kept waiting for him to snap back into reality, but he never did.” CNN