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Reid Russell/Twitter

This man had the sweetest surprise for his wife on their 57th anniversary

Grab your tissues.

 

Michelle Jaworski

IRL

Posted on May 23, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 6:36 pm CDT

A man made his 57th anniversary with his wife a truly special one when he showed up to her hospital room in style, showing us that love isn’t dead.

James “Jim” Russell and his wife Elinor have known each other for decades—”since she was in pigtails”—as they grew up in neighboring Georgia towns. They eloped in 1958 and never really set any sort of tradition when it comes to celebrating their anniversary on May 20. Aside from a trip to Rome and a vacation to Hawaii for their 50th anniversary, they never did anything huge aside from a nice dinner with flowers and chocolate.

However, Elinor has been in the hospital for the last month, according to her family, and they wanted to help make this anniversary a special one, even though they wouldn’t be able to go out and celebrate.

“My kids decided it would be great to do something special for my bride, so I went along with it,” Russell told ABC News.

They dressed Russell up in a tux (the one he wore when they went ballroom dancing), their grandchildren did Elinor’s makeup, and he showed up with flowers and a box of chocolates. Jim and Elinor Russell’s granddaughter Reid photographed them and posted it to Twitter.

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Once he arrived, the couple ate together and watched their favorite TV shows. The gesture cheered Elinor up immensely.

“Being in a hospital bed, you get bored so when they came in, it made me smile like the younger days when we were dancing,” Elinor said.

https://twitter.com/reidrussell_/status/601563139688296450

H/T Huffington Post | Photo via Reid Russell/Twitter

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*First Published: May 23, 2015, 4:11 pm CDT