Virginia couple fights to stay married
http://www.wusa9.com/story/news/local/virginia/2014/07/31/virginia-couple-fights-stay-married/13395503/
VIRGINIA (WUSA9) -- If love is blind then age and race shouldn't matter. Eddie Harrison, 95, and Edith Hill, 96, are in love. To this mixed-race couple that's all that matters.
Edith recalled the couple's first encounter.
"He was so nice to me. You know, a lot of times people act like they don't see you," said Edith.
When they first met, seeing Edith wasn't the problem. Hearing, that's what Eddie has trouble with.
But he always seems to hear Edith.
They met over a winning lotto ticket they played together and split the $2500 prize.
If you ask them how they met they both let out deep belly laughs "We were gamblers" says Eddie.
It happened at a store they both frequented.
"The next time I went to the store he was there, waiting for me," recalled Edith, letting out another laugh.
They spent the next 10 years as companions. Just last month, the two decided to make it official.
"We became married - husband and wife," said Eddie.
He helps her with seeing, she helps him with hearing. Eddie provides them with supplemental insurance, Edith provides them coverage for prescription drugs. They just seem to complete each other.
"We've never had an argument since we've been together," said Eddie.
Life is too short to argue. Even at 95 and 96, Eddie and Edith still want more time together. But they may not get it.
"She's 96 and he's 95, just let them be happy," said Rebecca Wright, Edith's daughter.
Wright and her sister, Edith's other daughter, are Edith's co-guardians. Wright's sister is now fighting her for full custody of Edith.
"She wants to sell my mother's house. She wants the money," explained Wright.
If Wright's sister wins, it could be Eddie and Edith who lose, as Edith would either have to move to Florida with the sister or be sent to a home.
"She's not gonna separate us, this man and me," said Edith, pointing to Eddie. "They're not gonna separate us," added Eddie. "No, we're not gonna let them."
The sisters are scheduled to have a court hearing to decide custody on August 8th.
But Wright suggests it may not only be about money.
"I think it's agism and I also think it's race. I think the laws have changed but the mindsets have not," said Wright.
But Eddie and Edith see something else.
"This is what Edith told me: we see hearts, we don't see color," said Eddie.
And more than what they see, it's what they feel.
"He touched my heart. I fell in love with him," said Edith.
Eddie, holding Edith tight, said "We'll be like this always regardless of what happens."
Attachments: