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VANCOUVER — Every time the elevator doors open at Wolfram Gottschalk’s care home and he sees his wife of 62 years, the couple’s granddaughter says he always reacts the same way.
The 83-year-old, who has been living apart from his beloved Anita for eight months, cries out her nickname — “My little mouse!” in German — and the two sit together and weep for several minutes.
“He always pretends that he has something in his eye, because he’s not a crier,” said Ashley Bartyik, their granddaughter, with a soft laugh.
“He doesn’t want us to see him vulnerable, but then he can’t control it and the outbursts start. And my grandma starts crying then.”