SLO County couple live in separate care facilities. Valentine’s Day brings them together

Teena Colebrook was already a hopeless romantic. Now she can add cupid to her resume.

On Thursday, Colebrook pulled together a special Valentine’s Day date at Tahoe Joe’s — complete with pink and red roses, balloons and cuddly stuffed animals — for Debbie and Steven Pryor, who have been living apart in separate skilled care facilities for the past couple of years.

The couple, who’ve been married 46 years and have three children and 11 grandkids, were blown away.

“I had no clue,” said Steven, who thought he was headed for McDonald’s. “I can’t believe it.”

Debbie lives at Mission View Health Center in San Luis Obispo, while Steven is at Bayside Care Center in Morro Bay.

Steven, who lost a leg to diabetes a couple of years ago, would like to join Debbie, but so far, there’s been no space available at Mission View, where Debbie’s spent the past 14 years.

She’s happy there, and doesn’t want to leave.

“I’ve been there so long. I have a lot of clout,” said Debbie, 63, who suffered a brain injury several years ago when she was knocked to the pavement by a horse. She later had a debilitating stroke.

The couple had owned a tow truck business in San Ardo, but they sold it following Debbie’s accident and moved to San Luis Obispo for her medical care.

Steven, 66, had been able to visit Debbie on a daily basis until he entered Bayside. Since then, they’ve been seeing each other once a week for dates at McDonald’s in Morro Bay.

When Colebrook learned of their predicament, she was determined to do something special for the couple.

She put together a package of donations — the Menu Club donated a gift certificate to Tahoe Joe’s in San Luis Obispo, and Trader Joe’s provided flowers, balloons and a card.

Colebrook supplied the TLC — something she’s quite expert at doing.

She’s volunteered at the Prado Day Center, which earned here the nickname Soup Lady, and she’s been delivering leftover flowers from Trader Joe’s to local convalescent care centers, where she’s known as the “Flower Lady.”

It was through her gig as Flower Lady that she met Debbie, who impressed her as someone who’s always upbeat, in spite of her and her husband’s misfortunes.

“She always says, ‘God bless you and God bless Trader Joe’s,’ Colebrook said.

On Thursday, Debbie also had kind words for the RTA drivers, who have been transporting her to weekly dates with Steven for the past two years.

“They’ve kept us together one day a week,” she said.

The couple hopes they won’t be apart too much longer; Steven says administrators are trying to arrange a transfer.

“We should be together our last years, I think,” he said.

This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 6:00 PM.