Re-united

By Heather Killen

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com

The war is over for one elderly couple.

After being separated for about four months, Bill and Mary Boates are back together and sharing a room at Grand View Manor in Berwick.

The couple became a focal point of media attention after an article appeared in the Annapolis County Spectator that documented how government regulations had forced the couple to live in separate counties.

The couple was finally reunited on October 23.

"What a relief," said Mary Boates. "It was hard on us, it was quite a long siege. I don’t think they realized what they were doing to us."

She added that the regular trips to see Bill across the county line, were not just taking a toll on her, but the whole family.

"I pitied Ronnie," she said. Ron Boates, Bill’s son, took his stepmother to visit his father every other day, when he had free time.

"We screamed at anyone we could scream at," he said. "We pushed to have Mary re-assessed."

Ron Boates added that last month he personally handed a letter to Premier Rodney MacDonald, and asked him to look into the matter.

"He promised he’d read it," said Ron Boates. "But I never heard a word from him. I think Leo Glavine and Jacqueline Foster (Global Television) kept after them, and really put the pressure on."

People across the province were talking about how the elderly couple had been separated and forced to live in two different nursing homes.

Ron Boates added that people as far away as Yarmouth were offering their support, and that it’s likely that officials were under some pressure to reassess the situation.

Ron Boates admits that the situation was beginning to take its toll on him, and that he didn’t know how much longer he’d be able to make the frequent trips with his stepmother.

"I didn’t know what we were going to do in a few months, when the driving was bad," he said.

Weary but far from defeated, Ron Boates said he was gearing up a fresh onslaught against the province with four-by-eight placards for his front lawn.

"I was going to paint plywood sheets to put in the front yard that said, ‘Couple apart due to government regulations,'" he said.

The Boates, both 90, have been married for nearly eight years and until June, were sharing a room at Tibbetts Home for Special Care in Wilmot.

Following a health assessment, Bill was transferred to Grand View Manor, while Mary was forced to stay behind in Wilmot.

Despite their pleas to be reunited, officials at the Department of Health maintained that the decision was made in the couple’s best interest.

The couple had been offered a place together in Halifax, but that would mean the couple would have been separated from their children and grandchildren.

In August, a spokesperson for the Department of Health said there were no beds available in one local facility that could meet both their needs.