Elden Eichholz turned 96 last week. He spent the day waving at passing cars that were honking at the birthday signs in his front yard.

Throughout the day there were family members stopping by with presents and wanting to give him hugs. They shied away from the contact due to his increased vulnerability to the COVID-19 virus.

“I’ve got three great-grandkids that I wanted to get a hold of them and give them a hug because they are just so cute. That was the hard part, not getting a hug from anybody,” said Eichholz.

There was another person he wanted to get a birthday hug from, but again, was turned away by the invisible virus that has claimed the lives of more than 42,000 Americans – nearly 4,909 of those ages 85 and older.

Instead, he was forced to stand on a small ladder and peek over the fence at St. Katharine Drexel Retirement Center and blow a kiss to 88-year-old Caroline Constien while talking on cell phones.

“That was hard. I could barely see her through the window with my bad eyes. I knew right away I was not going to get a hug,” said Eichholz.

Depending on who you ask, Constien is either Eichholz’s girlfriend or “very good friend,” but either way, it was not the way she wanted to celebrate his birthday.

“I would have liked to have celebrated with him and have a joyful day and not have to put up with this virus stuff. But that’s the way it has to be. It’s different and I never imagined this type of visits. It’s kind of fun and he just stands there and talks to me over the fence,” said Constien.

This relationship spans more years than just the 25 feet separating the fence and Constien’s window. It started more than 70 years ago when the two were kids in Okarche.

“I remember the first time I saw her. She was getting on the school bus and she was so short she could not step up on the first step but had to crawl. She ran past me and jumped up on the seat two rows behind me and I didn’t know what happened to her after that,” said Eichholz, who was born in El Reno.

Constien doesn’t recall the day on the bus, but remembers Eichholz living close to her family in the Okarche countryside.

“I have known him for a number of years but I cannot say how many. But we have been friends for a long time,” said Constien.

The two went separate ways after high school, with Eichholz graduating from Okarche in 1943 and later that year married his wife, Juanita.

They moved to El Reno in 1944 when he went to work at the old OK Shoe Shop on South Rock Island.

The couple had two kids, Butch and Joyce, and spent 69 years together - living 62 of those in the same house he resides at today. Forty-four of those years, the couple were owners of the shoe shop.

“God was looking after me when I got her. We didn’t know each other until six months before we got married. We were married 69 years and 15 days,” said Eichholz of his wife who died eight years ago at the age of 88.

Constien graduated from Okarche High in 1951 and was married but has been a widow for more than 20 years. While she owns a farm in Hinton and a house in El Reno, she resides at St. Katharine’s due to a medical condition that affects her short-term memory.

So how did the two reconnect nearly seven decades later?

“I had been going to the El Reno Senior Citizens Center and so had her older sister. One day she sat down across the table from me and Caroline came walking in and her sister introduced us,” said Eichholz.

He admits there was not that instant connection.

“I was not looking for a girlfriend and I really didn’t care for her at first. She was so independent, living alone by herself in a big old house,” said Eichholz.

The feelings began to change for both on the first date, a trip to eat barbecue at Swadley’s. A date which produced one funny story from that drive across town.

“I still don’t know how that first date came about. I do recall us going to Swadley’s to eat and we were talking and she ran the four-way stop sign near her house on Elm Street. Almost immediately she said, ‘Oh my goodness, I just ran that stop sign.’

“We laughed about it all the way there and we still laugh at that story now,” said Eichholz.

The two have been dating for four years now, but not in the conventional way, says Constien.

“I guess we are very good friends. We do date but it’s a different type of dating at our age. We go out to eat is the main thing. We do a little shopping but we don’t go to the movies. We mostly stay at home.

“It just varies as to what we feel like doing,” said Constien.

Before the spread of COVID-19, Eichholz said he talked with Constien several times a day by phone and would walk or drive the few blocks to the retirement center for visits.

“When I went to visit it would be for the day because they have got pretty good food up there. We would play dominoes and watch television, especially when the Thunder is playing. I might stay up there until 11:30 at night.

“Sundays I go up to United and get lunch for us and then go pick her up and we come to my house on Sunset to eat,” said Eichholz.

That changed, however, when Gov. Kevin Stitt ordered a statewide shelter in place order – especially for the elderly. St. Katharine’s has been in total lockdown for more than a month with no visitors allowed and residents cannot return if they leave.

“I don’t think I’ve ever experienced something like this in my life. It was unexpected. We get our meals in our room and there is not much going on,” said Constien.

Eichholz has isolated himself at home except for working in his backyard at his hobby of building windmills.

“This virus has been the worst thing I’ve experienced. I was born after the Spanish flu and this is something else. To me it’s the unknown virus and we don’t really know where it came from,” said Eichholz.

His only ventures away from home are drives with his son and the trips to see Constien.

“I enjoy him coming and talking with me. We are really good friends and it's special now because of this virus and having to be locked in place,” said Constien.

For his birthday, Eichholz got to walk up to Constien’s window and the two touched hands through the glass pane while talking on the phone.

“That was as close as we have been to each other in a month with the virus the way it’s been. I miss seeing him and talking with him like normal,” said Constien.

Both say when life goes back to normal, they will celebrate Eichholz’s birthday the right way.

“We will have a celebration when this is all over,” said Constien.

Eichholz knows where that will be.

“I can’t wait for that and she will have some things lined up. But I do know we have got a lot of places to go like the Mexican food place around the corner and Swadley’s for sure,” said Eichholz.