I believe that every one of us harbors the hope of someday finding our true love.
Some people spend their entire lives hunting for their soul mate, while others are fortunate enough to meet the person who instantly fills the void in their existence almost immediately after meeting them.
The same can be said for Tom and Delma Ledbetter; it’s difficult to find a love tale that can compare to theirs in terms of its incredibleness.
The story provided by the Ledbetters is not a work of fiction. According to Click2Houston, the pair first got together while they were in their early 20s and met through common acquaintances.
When Tom had to “just move his car,” it was sort of like their first date.
One of the Ledbetters’ daughters, Donetta Nichols, said: “They drove around two, three different blocks or whatever and they came back and they parked and he said he reached over and he grabbed her hand and he said, ‘I don’t know what made me do it.’ He said, ‘I just reached over and gave her a kiss on the cheek.’”
Three weeks later, Tom and Dela got married. They were still together 62 years later.
Soon after, they had two daughters, then grandkids, and then great-grandkids. Love and laughter filled Tom and Delma’s life.
In April 2017, Delma’s health began to get worse, which was sad.
After that, she was sent into a nursing facility, and then only a few days later, Tom got sick as well.
Donetta Nichols revealed: “We got him over to the nursing home with Mama. They had pushed their little beds together and Mama was laying right there, facing him. She was asleep and Daddy goes and he reached over there and he grabbed ahold of her hand and he just laid there with her, and it was so sweet.”
Only an hour and a half separated their deaths, which occurred hand in hand.
Stephanie, a granddaughter of the Ledbetters, took a picture of the two during their last hours together.
Millions of people were touched by the terrible image that spread swiftly online.
Nichols shared: “It was exactly how they wanted to go. It couldn’t have been any better.”
Tom and Delma were buried next to one another in Clute, Texas’ Restwood Memorial Park.
I’m more convinced than ever that true love exists and that there is someone out there with whom we are intended to spend our time on earth after reading about Tom and Delma’s tale.
