THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 21, 1995 TAG: 9512210362
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY ANNE SAITA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Dewey Meeks, 85, and his bride, 89-year-old Lena, had but one wish this Christmas, but that single desire was bound to bring them closer together.
The newlywed nursing home residents at Britthaven of Tarboro wanted a double bed so they could sleep next to each other in their room at Britthaven of Tarboro.
On Wednesday, an Edenton radio station and an area furniture store delivered a full-size, Ortho-Backguard bed to the delighted octogenarians.
``We were touched that somebody could fall in love at 85 and 89. We thought this was really something,'' said Buzz Berry, a morning disc jockey for Edenton's WERX Rock 102.5.
``And all they wanted was a bed, so we thought we could help them out,'' he said in Edenton just hours before the gift was to be delivered.
``They are one of our elders. Our elderly people have given a lot to their communities through the years,'' added Berry's morning show partner, E.J. This was one way, he said, of giving something back.
After reading a newspaper story about the marriage and subsequently interviewing Dewey Meeks on the air, the two disc jockeys and the station started a local drive to buy the Meekses a bed.
Furniture Lion of Edenton and Elizabeth City picked up a substantial portion of the tab for the $530 bed. New sheets and pillow cases also were given to the couple from the donations.
Wednesday's gift was not exactly a surprise for the enterprising couple, who had tied their single beds together after the nuptials and then learned such arrangements were not permitted for safety reasons.
``Mr. Meeks is so aggressive. Buzz worried he'd secure a bed before they could bring them one,'' said Blaine Hughes, the nursing home's administrator.
Hughes said the near-elopement of the nursing home pair caught just about everyone by surprise.
Dewey and the former Lena Davis, who both came to Britthaven for health reasons, met about 18 months ago.
``They just struck up an immediate friendship, and for many months they have been together inseparately,'' Hughes said. ``It was just really a neat thing to watch.''
The Meeks, he said, ``are focusing on living and enjoying what life they have.''
In fact, Meeks ``is adamant that he get out and make a living for her now,'' Hughes said.
While nursing home marriages have occurred before, this is a first for the 130-bed Tarboro facility. Double beds have never been a dilemma.
``Regulations don't disallow a double bed, but normally in a facility like ours you'll have hospital beds,'' Hughes said.
The precedent-setting pair have sparked not only an act of goodwill, as in the case of the Edenton gift, but also of good feelings.
``They have become folk heroes,'' Hughes said. ``I think it has probably enlivened those who do look at their position here as the last step before eternity.
``I think they represent hope and quality of living and, perhaps, other things.'' by CNB