Couple Dies Within 20 Minutes Of Each Other

If you are not the type of person that enjoys thinking about death, or the death of a loved one — you are clearly not alone. Most of us are scared of death, and hearing stories like the one about a couple who died within 20 minutes of each other might be the heartwarming story you need to take feel more at ease about it. While nothing about death is ever nice, hearing that a couple didn't have to suffer without each other is comforting.

Henry and Jeanette De Lange are basically a real life The Notebook couple. Henry was a war vet and Jeanette was a musician. If this doesn't start to sound familiar, Jeanette was also battling Alzheimer's in her later years. The couple stayed in a shared room inside of a nursing home and clearly enjoyed each other's company after 63 years of marriage. That's a very impressive number by today's standards — it definitely gives hope for those of us who are romantics at heart. Seeing a couple stay together that long and still want to see each other every day is a pretty awesome thing.

Henry and Jeanette shared five children and a love that seems to have transcended this world. On July 31 both of them passed away in their respective rooms, 20 minutes apart from each other. Lee De Lange spoke about her parents, saying to CNN affiliate KSFY, "We're calling it a beautiful act of God's providential love and mercy. You don't pray for it because it seems mean but you couldn't ask for anything more beautiful."

From all account this was a truly tragically beautiful ending to a great love story.

According to the family that was present during their last moments, Jeannette passed away first around 5:10 p.m.. When the news was broken to her husband, who was suffering from prostate cancer, he was told that he could let go as well. Henry passed away twenty minutes later.

I'm trying not to cry as I re-read their story, but it is very touching that they held on just long enough to be with each other in the afterlife. No matter what you believe happens when we die, the bonds of love are strong. Hopefully we can all learn from this wonderful couple who raised a beautiful family together, and still had time for each other.

We might not know every detail about them or how they were as people, but their passing is a sad one. Love like theirs is very rare — and those of us who believe in it are encouraged to keep looking.

Images: Giphy (1), New Line Cinema