To 99-year-old Luther Younger, his wife Waverlee is “the sweetest cup of tea he ever had.”
The Rochester, New York couple have been married for 55 years.
And in those five decades of marriage, Luther has developed a deep devotion to his wife.
So much so that the almost centenarian walks six miles every single day to visit his wife in the hospital.
It doesn’t matter what kind of weather there is.
Rain, heat, snow… he is walking to the hospital to see his wife.
“I want to see my wife,” he told ABC 13 WHAM. “I love my wife. She made a man out of me. She made me more than I ever could be.”
Waverlee was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2009 and has been in and out of hospitals ever since.
And on those days Luther makes sure he sees his wife.
Waverlee has been in the hospital for the last two weeks during her most recent hospital stay,
Luther could wait for his daughter to give him a ride or even take the bus but he doesn’t want to.
“My dad’s always walked. He says he does it to stay alive,” says Luthta Younger. “He still says, ‘nope I have to get out there to my wife. I have to go.’”
People often offer him rides but he declines them.
Luther, a Marine who fought in the Korean War, told CBS News that walking helps to clear his mind.
He also grew up in Texas so he’s used to the heat.
“You see, I’m not humped over like those guys out here – the old guys,” Luther told Spectrum News Rochester.
People tell Luther to act his age, but he won’t have any of that talk.
“They’re jealous because I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, because it’s no good. I wouldn’t be here [if I did],” he told CBS.
Luther became a local celebrity because of his walks and eventually, his story went viral. But he’s not talking the press to brag about his physical fitness.
It’s all about his wife.
“I don’t want to talk about nothing except my wife,” he told a reporter for CBS. “She is a beautiful lady and she treats me as a person is supposed to be … she made a man out of me. That’s why I love her because she’s tough. She’s not weak … That’s the kind of woman I want.”
The couple met in a laundromat and got married at their home. Luther still talks about how beautiful his wife looked on their wedding day.
The couple has one child together and she also helped him to raise children from a previous relationship.
“She wasn’t easy. She was the type of person, if you didn’t work, you got to go. And I had to work,” he told me. “That’s why I’m sticking with her, because if it hadn’t been for my wife, I wouldn’t have made it.”
Lutheta says his father’s love for his mother has never ever changed.
“He’s always cared about her the way he does [now]. He loves my mom, He’ll do anything for her,” she said.
Though he’s sad to leave his wife at the hospital after their visit, he knows he’ll see her again the next day. Those who would like to contribute to the family’s hospital expenses can do so here.
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