Terry and Gloria’s Story: Supporting One Another Through Life and Health Challenges

Finding Support through Difficult Times

In 2006, Gloria Franklin and Terry Samm-Garris met in a support group that Gloria was leading. The two became fast friends, then roommates, before eventually marrying in 2016. In the 19 years since meeting in southern Illinois, the two have bonded over their lifelong struggle with mental illness and similar health journeys that led them to their local Meals on Wheels provider, Peninsula Agency on Aging, at a time when they desperately needed it.

The nutritious home-delivered meals provide them with the strength to manage various health challenges that often drain their energy, limit their mobility, and leave them in intense pain, while also enabling them to survive on a fixed income. Their powerful story demonstrates how something as simple as a nutritious meal can transform two connected lives in small and significant ways — helping many homebound seniors and their companions find hope and stability in the face of constant hardship.

Soulmates in Sickness and Health

Like many couples, Terry and Gloria share everything, including previous careers as social workers, and a deep love and understanding that keeps them grounded, no matter the circumstances. They’ve needed that grounding more than ever in recent years as a string of health issues slowly began to upend their lives.

First, a year before the couple relocated to Virginia, Gloria was forced into early retirement from her career as a peer specialist in early 2015. Terry, who is now on permanent disability, followed in 2023 after being unable to maintain work as a social worker while fighting a rare digestive condition that was later diagnosed as a pancreas-related disease, requiring her to take enzymes to eat. The number of health issues they’ve faced has only grown over the years.

However, it was Gloria’s shoulder replacement that initially prompted her to reach out to their local Meals on Wheels, which she learned about through a friend who worked for the organization at Warwick United Church of Christ, one of the provider’s meal distribution centers. Unable to cook for herself while Terry was away at work during her recovery period, Gloria began receiving home-delivered meals temporarily. It was during this time that Terry broke her fibula and the top of her foot, requiring a seven-day hospital stay and 10 days of rehabilitation. With Terry away, Gloria struggled again to prepare meals, a task that didn’t get easier when Terry returned home and was mostly wheelchair bound.

Gloria recognized the benefits of the meals for their meal planning, health, and budget, and reached out to their local provider again. The couple soon received an in-home assessment and were placed on an eight-month waitlist. “We happened to come up on the list at a time when we most needed it,” Terry says of finally getting the news that the meals would resume.

A Reliable Meal

Over the years, as their health and financial concerns have grown, Meals on Wheels has been there to provide meals that nourish aching bones and muscles. Terry and Gloria both have rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, fibromyalgia and ongoing mental health conditions. Extreme fatigue is one of the main symptoms they endure, which often makes it challenging and dangerous to prepare meals on many days, given the potential for falls.

Before receiving Meals on Wheels, their meals often consisted of simple options, such as cheese and crackers, on days when fatigue made cooking difficult. On days when they could cook, they primarily used a slow cooker to make meals that took all day to prepare. “It makes a huge difference to have a hot meal,” says Terry. The meals also go a long way to helping Terry and Gloria stretch their fixed income.

“We have the same money coming in every month, so if we need a car repair or something like that, something’s gotta give in the budget,” Terry says. “And unfortunately, sometimes it’s the food or the type of food we buy, and that’s really sad.” The couple benefits from the well-balanced options provided by Meals on Wheels, which include fruits, vegetables, milk, and bread, as well as meals that often serve as two meals for Terry, who eats smaller portions since undergoing gastric bypass surgery and is still recovering from her broken fibula and foot.

Then, there are the small touches that make life easier for them, such as meat that comes pre-cut for Gloria, who is unable to handle a knife due to the tremors in her hand, or receive help from Terry, who experiences regular pain in her hand from nerve damage and rheumatoid arthritis. And they are especially grateful for Ray, one of their regular volunteers, who treats them with kindness and arranges meals he delivers to ensure that one person can easily carry them from the door to the kitchen — a small gesture that means everything.

Thanks to Meals on Wheels, Gloria and Terry don’t have to face their health journey alone. “When people give of their time and energy, it’s one of the most awesome things,” Terry says of the volunteers who deliver their meals.