Posted on 11/13/2007 9:44:49 AM PST by COUNTrecount
The husband of retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor has struck up a romance with a woman who is a fellow Alzheimer's patient and lives at the same assisted living center as him, according to a television news report.
The retired justice isn't jealous about the relationship and is pleased that her husband is comfortable at the center, the couple's son, Scott O'Connor, told KPNX in Phoenix in a broadcast that aired Thursday.
"Mom was thrilled that dad was relaxed and happy," Scott O'Connor said. An effort by The Associated Press to reach Scott O'Connor on Tuesday morning was unsuccessful.
An official with the assisted living center was quoted as saying people with Alzheimer's need intimacy and sometimes develop romantic attachments with fellow patients.
John O'Connor was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 17 years ago and was sad when he moved into the assisted living center, his son said.
"Forty-eight hours after moving into that new cottage he was a teenager in love," Scott O'Connor said. "He was happy."
The news report showed video footage of John O'Connor holding hands with a woman identified only as "Kay." The retired justice wasn't shown in footage taken at the center.
Though Sandra Day O'Connor, 77, did not appear in the television report, it gave a rare look at the life of the nation's first female justice, USA Today reported. The family's willingness to highlight an aspect of a heart-wrenching illness recalled O'Connor's decision in 1994 to go public with her feelings about breast cancer.
In a speech to the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship, she spoke about discovering the cancer in 1988 and undergoing a mastectomy, the paper reported.
Scott said, "For Mom to visit when he's happy … visiting with his girlfriend, sitting on the porch swing holding hands," was a relief after a painful period, according to USA Today.
The O'Connors, who have three children, met at Stanford Law School and married in 1952, according to the paper. John O'Connor left a partnership at a Phoenix law firm to come to Washington with his wife in 1981. He worked for D.C. law firms but was limited in his ability to take on matters that could come before the justices.
As her husband's disease became more difficult to handle, O'Connor retired, the paper reports.
Uh oh...I see a new excuse for why men had an affair.
All kidding aside, this story is strangely sweet.
Well if the guy is out of his mind and somehow finds some way to be alive a little with the stranger, then I see why his wife is OK with it.
What can she possibly do, her husband, the one she married is really dead as a whole and little bits of him die mentally daily I guess.
She has my sympathy.
“All kidding aside, this story is strangely sweet.”
Yes it is.
I agree, though I doubt she’s “thrilled” as her son claimed. Probably more like simultaneously hurt, grieving, and understanding.
I think you are right.
Like I said, she has my sympathy.
Shame on CBS for reporting a story such as this. Matters of Alzeimers should remain private family matters, unless the family releases it. And, I’m no fan of x Judge O’connor.
Oh, I forgot. The only people entitled to privacy these days are those who dredge the bottom of the barrel to bring us the news.
Although I share your sentiments, I am disturbed at the fact that somebody felt it important to run to the retirement center and film and report this story in a way that wreaks of tabloid journalism. In my mind, it appears to paint a picture of Sandy Baby as a cold and uncaring spouse that has written off the remaining days of her husband’s life. I’m sure that’s far from accurate.
JMHO
I’m glad he found a friend. I wonder if its anything like that goofy Adam Sandler movie with the girl that starts the same day over and over again?
And they get to fall in love every day.
EXACTLY RIGHT...
I agree...
Hopefully CBS will go further down the tubes for reporting this story...
Alzheimer’s killed my Uncle. The problem is, he didn’t have it, my Aunt did. The things that they do are not conscious decisions. When she caused a car accident she told the EMT’s that she didn’t know my Uncle. He was removed from the ambulance and removed from the hospital later by the police. He died of a heart attack in a rented car 24 hours later. I wouldn’t be surprised if the woman’s family had her removed or if the hospital suggested one of them transfer.
As our population gets more older people, there will be a lot more of this.
God bless those going through this kind of torture.
Nobody wants our loved ones to lose their minds and to forget their whole past lives.
Very sad, a family tragedy for whoever goes through this.
Because of O’Connor being high profile and tabloids being in business to make money, they have zero problem reporting the ongoing tragedy of her family.
Tragedy sells, just look at Britney, Lohan and Mike Tyson.
Was this “news” written before or after the news writers at seeBS went on strike?
I know, I know, same chit, different day.
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