Nic and Trees Elderhorst met when they were young and never let go of each other for 65 years. They lived in the Netherlands, raised a family, and grew old together. And when illness began to slowly pull them apart, they decided they would not let it happen.
A stroke in 2012 had taken away much of Nic’s mobility. Trees, for her part, was beginning to lose her memory and also the ability to move freely. Their daughters recounted something that sums up all the fear of those years: if he died first, she would have to go into a nursing home, alone, without him.
It was not a one-day decision. For almost a year, they talked, hesitated, and underwent assessments with specialists. A geriatrician confirmed that Trees was still capable of deciding about her own life. The Netherlands, the first country in the world to legalize euthanasia, requires the suffering to be real and without a way out, and the decision to be one’s own, considered, and sustained over time.
In 2017, surrounded by their family, Nic and Trees shared one last kiss. Then they held hands. And so, together as they had lived, they passed away at the same time.