Real-life 'Notebook' couple dies hand-in-hand after 67-yr-long romance

A California-based couple, who were married for 67 years, died within hours of one another, lying side by side and holding hands.

Floyd and Violet Hartwig, who got married on Aug. 16, 1947, died at home on Feb. 11 while holding hands, People Magazine reported.

The 90-year-old Floyd died first and the 89-year-old Violet followed five hours later. Their family noticed something was wrong when their synchronized breathing stopped.

Daughter Donna Scharton said the elderly couple wanted to go together and it was meant to be that way."

Family noticed a decline in health of Violet, who had dementia for the last few years, over the holiday season, and then, in January, Scharton got a call from Floyd's doctor telling her that her father had kidney failure and two weeks to live.

At that point the family decided to put them in hospice together. When they noticed Floyd had passed, they pushed their hospice beds together.

Scharton added that they weren't fancy and were just decent people that were always committed to each other, no matter the situation.

She noted that they never, ever asked for anything and all they ever wanted was their family, and it was amazing that they got that in the end.