Couple married for 73 years dies minutes apart

With half of all marriages ending up in divorce these days, the phrase 'till death do us part' just isn't something everyone takes seriously.

But a Lexington, Kentucky, couple married for 73 years, took it to heart.

William Wilson, 93, and wife, Lillian, 89, had been together since they were high school sweethearts in the 1930s. They both suffered from Alzheimer's later in life, and were living apart for their final years. He was in the Thomas Hood Veterans Center, while she was a few miles down the road at a nursing home.

Married more than seven decades, Lillian and William did everything as one ... even in death.

On April 7th, the couple's son Doug, 66, got a call from his father's nursing home. They said his father died at 3:52 a.m.

Five minutes later, the unthinkable happened.

Doug received a phone call from his mother's nursing home. She had passed away at 3:57 a.m.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Lillian predicted the coincidence. When asked about death, she would say, "I'm not going till Bill goes."

Their love story is being compared to the heart-warming ending of a blockbuster movie.

When Doug called his father's veterans center to inform them about his mother's death, the nurse said, "Oh, my God, that's like 'The Notebook.'" In the film, however, the couple dies holding hands.

Doug says he's actually grateful he lost both of his parents at once. It's exactly the way they would have wanted it.

"We all look at it as a blessing because we're having one funeral for both of them," he told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

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