Albert Conner is keeping a promise to his wife in her battle with cancer — global pandemic be damned.
“I can’t be with you but I’m here,” the handmade sign outside the MD Anderson Cancer Center read: “love you.” Below, underlined multiple times, was a show of gratitude to the brave men and women still showing up to care for people like his wife. “Thank you to all staff!”
The Missouri City, Texas, native drew national attention for his faithfulness but deferred the credit to doing his duty as a partner: “I didn’t feel right not being a part of it because I had promised her that I would be there every step of the way and I felt like I would be breaking my word,” Albert Conner told Good Morning America. “I just got a poster board and our kids and I colored it.”
Conner’s wife, Kelly, who is fighting an ongoing battle with breast cancer, posted pictures showing her husband’s support to Facebook early on the morning of March 30. “No visitors allowed for Chemo due to the virus but that didn’t stop Albert L. Conner!” she wrote. “Thank you for all your continued love and support.”
“As soon as he texted me, I just kind of lifted up in my chair a little bit to peer out the window, and he was just right there,” she said during their interview. “It immediately brought tears to my eyes, and I felt a love for him right then in that moment, that he would do that for me.”
Conner has even inspired employees at the clinic itself. “A few of them said I was the reason that they come to work,” he said. “The attention made me uncomfortable, but it made me feel good and was very touching.”
Kelly’s chemotherapy is expected to extend through May. And her husband — who has already closed his locksmith business in the interest of protecting her while she is immunocompromised — will be there every step of the way.