For one couple, vaccinations have truly made their relationship stronger.
Back in 1955, Ann and John Molyneaux were grade school classmates at Prospect Elementary in Oberlin, Ohio, when they were chosen to be photographed getting the polio vaccine for their hometown paper.
At the time, polio was ravaging the nation having infected more than 120,000 Americans and caused more than 7,000 fatalities.
"We've always thought it was remarkable [that] the two of us got picked out of all the kids in our school,” John, 73, recently told People. “We kind of figured it was destiny."
The pair wound up dating and attending the same college, before tying the knot in 1969. Over the years, John and Ann expanded their family with four children and, eventually, eight grandkids.
The couple, who had settled in Illinois, were at their second home in Washington state when the COVID pandemic began last year. They ended up spending over a year in quarantine away from their family.
"It all happened so quickly," Ann, 72, shared. "To not see [our kids and grandkids] for 15 months, and only through FaceTime, that was really the hardest."
In February, the couple was able to score vaccine appointments, three days apart, for their first shot of Moderna. Four weeks later, on March 9, they received their second dose side-by-side. It was a full circle moment.
"When we finally got it, it was such a feeling of relief," the family matriarch said. "There were tears in our eyes."
Ann reflected on how the two vaccinations, more than 60 years apart, are now defining moments in her relationship with her husband.
"Every day, I look at that picture of the two of us," she said, in reference to the newspaper pic from the ‘50s. "We really wanted to get the COVID vaccine together. It just seemed like the bookends of our entire life."
The pair have since been able to visit with their family members and urge everyone to do their part to put an end to the pandemic.
"We encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” Ann told the outlet. “We're not through this yet, and we can't let our guard down."
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