Mable Louise Hill and Perry Lee Hewett met more than 20 years ago. They’ve been together ever since Hill’s cousin gave her number to Hewett. They’re together now, too – in the middle of Hurricane Florence – at Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center near the North Carolina Coast in the town of Bolivia. They were admitted separately on Sept. 14 as both were preparing to escape the hurricane, which has since been downgraded to a tropical storm.
“We are so happy to be here together,” said Hewett. “I would have had so much weight on my shoulders knowing that I had to take care of her and myself. We’re glad we don’t have to worry how each other is doing now that we’re together at” at the hospital.
Hewett describes their relationship as being “love at first phone.” He fell in love with her voice before they met face-to-face and told her so. Hill was skeptical. She thought it was just talk. But she finally trusted him when he bought her a car and a lot for her to put her trailer on. They both laughed as Hewett recounted the story to the emergency department staff at Brunswick Medical Center.
This weekend in their hospital room, Hewett asked Hill to marry him.
“Not today,” she responded, with a smile.
She simply didn't want to tie the knot in the middle of a hurricane. Twenty years on, and Hewett is still pursuing his beloved – and she’s still playing it safe. Stay tuned.