Couple's Love Helps Husband Regain Memory After Accident

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — A Southern California couple defines the meaning of enduring love after surviving good and bad times and even an accident that left one of them with an unimaginable injury.

"Forty-one years later I still call her my bride. I still have her on a pedestal and she'll always be up there," Bob Farley said of his wife Gloria.

If Bob and Gloria ever forget what love is, all they have to do is remember the words they once exchanged.

"For better for worse," Gloria said.

They made that pact in 1970 and have been keeping that promise no matter what.

"For better or for worse. This is the worst I'm going for and I would just take the next step," she said.

The couple was married for 17 years when it happened – Bob, a training officer for the LAPD, got into a car accident.

"I broke all my ribs, punctured my ribs, punctured my lungs, crushed my hip," he explained.

Bob was on life support for a month.

"I really didn't expect him to be alive. I didn't expect him to live the next 24 hours," Gloria said.

But when Bob woke up, he had no memory.

"I was a blank slate."

His wife and his two small children were strangers.

"I felt so alone and scared my rock was lying there and not helping."

What did help Gloria was what was inscribed in her mind.

"Love and commitment I'd have to say."

For years, Gloria flipped through the pages of Bob's life with pictures, showing him, reminding him why they fell in love in the first place.

"I am the person I am because of her love for me," Bob said.

Bob was reminded and romanced.

"I started romancing her, dating her again."

Eventually he did regain a few memories, such as his wedding, the day his girls were born and how persistent he was to get a ring on Gloria's hand.

"I kept bugging her. I know I'm right for you," he said.

That was exactly why she could not give up.
"Love just goes out and then it comes back… when it's real," Gloria said.

On Valentine's Day they now need a reservation for 8 -- their family has grown, nurtured by a home full of burning love and Unforgettable devotion.

"After these 41 years of being married, I can say that Bob and I love each other more deeply than we did when we first got married, because of what we've given to each other."