Courtesy of Sarah Dennison
NEED TO KNOW
A woman with dementia, Ann Pendola, had a brief moment of lucidity as her husband, Stephen Pendola, sang to her at a wedding
"It was a miracle," the couple's granddaughter, Sarah Dennison, tells PEOPLE
Shortly after the performance, Ann's clarity faded; she died six months later
In a real-life moment reminiscent ofThe Notebook, an elderly man briefly triggered his wife's memory when he sang one of her favorite songs at a wedding.
For Ann Pendola, "music was medicine." On Nov. 19, 2019, she was diagnosed withfrontotemporal dementia, a group of brain diseases that impact personality, behavior and language. Her symptoms "progressed rapidly," so "it was really a struggle for any daily life activity," including getting dressed and speaking. However, her granddaughter, Sarah Dennison, 37, tells PEOPLE she would "light up with music," having "always loved to dance."
On May 16, 2021, the 78-year-old woman joined several family members at a relative's wedding in East Northport, New York, where her husband, Stephen Pendola, who was 78 at the time, planned to cover the song "My Way" at the reception. Having been in a doo-wop band when he was young, Stephen sang every chance he had access to a microphone, but this time was different.
"We all melted every time he sang it. That night was the best of all time, though," says Dennison, who was 33 at the time of the wedding.
Ann was standing surrounded by family when Stephen began singing. Suddenly, she stepped away from the group and started slowly moving toward him.
"Out of the blue mid-song it was like a magnet was between the two of them," Dennison remembers. "She walked up to him, started moving her body and couldn't take her eyes off of him."
She continues, "It was a miracle. We were all saying it was as if she was back for a moment."
For a brief moment, Ann seemed to recognize Stephen, who hugged her before holding her hands as he serenaded her. Ann didn't break eye contact as the pair shared an emotional reunion.
Courtesy of Sarah Dennison
"[She] couldn't even speak, but when the music came on, she stood up and danced, knew the words and lit up like she was actually in there," Dennison says.
"I was breathless, so flabbergasted in the most beautiful way," she continues. "My grandma was my favorite person in the whole world. She believed in me when literally no one else did. [She] was back here in the moment, smiling and dancing, and had that glimmer in her eyes. I was over the moon with so much excitement."
Stephen, now 82, never expected his wife's reaction, but he holds the memory close to his heart.
While reflecting on the heartwarming moment, he told Dennison, "I turned around and seen her coming, and walking by herself, my heart dropped and I just sang louder, so she would keep walking toward me. I mean, that was the last good moment I think I've had. It was a miracle — whatever angels were up above that made Grandma walk toward me. All I could say, it was a miracle. I cry about it every time I think about this moment."
Courtesy of Sarah Dennison
Sadly, almost as soon as Ann's clarity arrived, it faded minutes later — but not before she held hands with her entire family in a dance circle in a memory they'll cherish forever.
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Six months later, on Nov. 16, 2021, Ann died — just three months short of her 59th wedding anniversary with Stephen. The couple met in kindergarten, grew up together in East New York, and tied the knot at a Catholic church on Feb. 23, 1963. Over the course of their marriage, they welcomed five children together.
Courtesy of Sarah Dennison
"They lived a long married life," Dennison says. "They always stayed together and always had each other's backs."
Dennison started the new year by sharing a video of Stephen singing to Ann at the wedding for everyone to enjoy. She captioned herTikTokpost, "That time my grandpa sang 'My Way' at my cousin's wedding and my grandma snapped out of her dementia like she heard an angel 😢."
Since the video was posted on Jan. 1, it has amassed 11.5 million views and nearly 3 million likes.
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