Korean War veteran Stewart Breeding figured he’d spend the rest of his life alone when his wife, Jettie, died in 2016. He moved into a nursing home and was lonely.
Fast-forward to last month — his 86th birthday — when Breeding walked into Donna and Bennie Nolan’s dining room in Ashland, Ky., to find balloons, a red-white-and-blue chocolate cake and a roomful of people wishing him a happy birthday.
The Nolans are his foster family. Shortly after he moved into a care center, the couple picked him up and took him home with them as part of the Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Foster Home Program. It’s an alternative to nursing home care for veterans who cannot live independently.
Washington Post