⁍ For 12 days last month, Howard and the couple’s daughter, Laurel Smith, kept vigil at Lois Kittson’s bedside at the New Paltz Center in the Hudson River Valley.

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⁍ When Lois’ organs began failing and she could no longer swallow, Howard wet her tongue with cool water every so often to keep her comfortable.

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⁍ The visitors often played two CDs: flute sonatas by Bach, which they thought might evoke memories of Laurel’s own beautiful playing back in her youth.

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– When Howard Smith’s wife of 50 years entered the end-of-life phase of an upstate New York nursing home last month, she had no choice but to die with him by her side. The Smiths spent 12 days with 78-year-old Lois Kittson at the New Paltz Center, sometimes slouching on a chair in her room as she opened her eyes and acknowledged their presence, reports Reuters. They played two CDs of flute sonatas by Bach and violin pieces by Beethoven, listened to music they thought might soothe her, and painted watercolors of her room. “These final visits, while sad, were quite beautiful,” says Howard, a renowned artist. Lois had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a decade ago and spent the last five years at the nursing home with advancing disability and dementia. “We know she died peacefully, and I don’t think my dad would ever have recovered had he not been able to get in there,” says Howard’s daughter, Laurel. “For months we hadn’t been able to see Lois except through a digital screen, which really meant very little to her,’ Howard says. “So these final visits, while sad, were quite beautiful.” Reuters first wrote about the couple in April. Their story shows how, in facilities that have been the site of more than 40% of the country’s COVID-19 deaths, routines are still anything but normal. In many cases, loved ones are still kept out unless a resident is near death. In New York, there have been more than 6,000 COVID-19 deaths.