Throughout the years, there have been a number of popular songs that sing about walking incredible distances for the person you love. The Proclaimers “would walk 500 miles,” and then “500 more.” Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton would “walk a thousand miles just to see you tonight.”
The romantic soundtracks of the past are the reality for one Alabama veteran who walks everyday to see “the most beautiful woman in the world.”
Seventy-year-old James Wright visits his wife every single day. She has dementia and lives in a nursing home, driving distance from his house.
“I don’t care if it’s raining, snowing or what, I’m going to see my wife. Even if I have to crawl,” James says.
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But after his truck broke down, crawling seemed like the only way James would make it to his wife on this particular day. The elderly man had not seen his wife in over a week, and decided he would walk along the highway to the nursing home—a distance that Lt. Charles Plitt of the Weaver Police Department describes as several miles.
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The off-duty police officer noticed James walking one day, looking dangerously exhausted. When he stopped to talk with him, the elderly man said he was unable to walk any further because he was recovering from a stroke.
“I tried, but I just can’t make it… I can’t walk no more,” James told Lt. Plitt. “I just can’t walk no more and I want to see my wife.”
The officer asked where his wife was and offered to drive him to the nursing home.
As they rode together, James told Lt. Plitt that he was a veteran who served for 22 years in the U.S. Army. He shared war stories and the two bonded over their hearts for service.
When they arrived, James lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“You see that window with the shades pulled back?” He said to the Lieutenant. “That’s my wife’s room. She’s gonna be so happy I’m here!”
Their story was shared on the Weaver Police Department Facebook page where it quickly went viral for obvious reasons.
Members of the community reached out and offered to repair James’ truck. They also raised $1,000 to ensure he has gas and other things to make it to his wife as much as possible.
It’s beautiful to see strangers looking out for each other, and communities coming together to keep a love story like James’ alive.
