Today, we’re revisiting the story of Bette Ann Moskowitz, who lost her husband of 56 years on the eve of the coronavirus pandemic. When Bette first met her husband, she was taken by his “smoldering looks and banked fires.” He was from Brooklyn; she was from the Bronx. They had little in common and their “prospects were not good,” as Bette put it, but they got married anyway.
Bette’s husband died in February 2020, which isolated her just before the rest of the world locked down. On today’s episode, Bette shares the secret to what kept her and her husband together for decades — and how their long love has helped her cope.
Today’s story
This episode was originally released in 2020. It was hosted by Miya Lee and Daniel Jones; produced by Kelly Prime and Hans Buetow; and edited Sara Sarasohn and Wendy Dorr. This episode was updated in 2022.
Hosted by: Anna Martin
Produced by: Hans Buetow, Julia Botero, Christina Djossa, Elyssa Dudley and Anna Martin
Edited by: Sara Sarasohn
Engineered by: Dan Powell
Theme Music by: Dan Powell
Original Music by: Dan Powell
Read by: Suzanne Toren
Written by: Bette Ann Moskowitz
Founder, Modern Love: Daniel Jones
Editor, Modern Love Projects: Miya Lee
Special thanks: Ryan Wegner, Kelly Rogers, Mahima Chablani, Nell Gallogly, Julia Simon, Jeffrey Miranda and Anna Diamond at Audm.
Want more from Modern Love? Read past stories. Watch the TV series and sign up for the newsletter. We also have swag at the NYT Store and two books, “Modern Love: True Stories of Love, Loss, and Redemption” and “Tiny Love Stories: True Tales of Love in 100 Words or Less.”
