A 93-year-old Marine veteran is going above and beyond to show his dedication to his late wife by taking three buses from his Hawaii apartment to visit his wife’s grave nearly every day.
Ted Richardson, 93, told KGMB he has visited his late wife’s grave at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific about 1,300 times since she passed five years ago, and visits it six days a week rain or shine shortly after the doors open at 6:30 a.m.
“I always tell her when I go up there, ‘Payback time,'” Richardson said of his wife, Florence.
Each time Richardson visits his wife’s grave, he trims the grass surrounding the grave and brushes any leaves or debris off it. He also delivers flowers to the site once a month. But the Marine veteran said it is the least he can do for her after she cared for him for 72 years.
Richardson said he met his sweetheart when he was 16 and Florence was 14.
“I was standing in the hall. The classes were changing and I saw a beautiful girl,” he said. “I went home and told my dad that night I saw the girl I was going to marry.”
Although the couple spent time apart when Richardson fought in World War II, he never forgot his wife while serving his country and always kept a picture of Florence by his side.
“She was beautiful. I didn’t mind looking at her all the time,” Richardson said.
Once Richardson returned home from his deployment, he married Florence and had one son together. Florence worked for the FBI while he worked as a school teacher.
The two lived happily together for 72 years until Florence passed away in 2013.
The 93-year-old veteran said he is so committed to his wife that he has arranged for his church to deliver flowers to Florence’s gravesite after he dies.
“I’ll keep going as long as I can go. God will tell me when I’ve had enough,” Richardson said.
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