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WILLIS, Va. (AP) — A smile grew across Sarah Kathryn Pinson's face at the first sound of the baritone voice.
It was the same voice the 80-year-old walked down the aisle to hear say "I do" in 1959, raised three children alongside, and grew old with until Larry Pinson's death in February 2012.
Diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 2008, Sarah Kathryn Pinson no longer walks or feeds herself, and she rarely mumbles a word.
But she does listen to and interact with the audio retelling of how the couple met and fell in love her husband left as a gift to her before his death.
"If you turn it on, she kind of like listens for his voice," said daughter Sharon Honaker. "You can tell she's kind of looking for him and it usually makes her quiet and calm."
The family knew Larry Pinson desired to record his stories as he grew increasingly ill with pulmonary fibrosis, but Honaker said it wasn't until a year and a half after his death the compact disc surfaced with the words "Songs and Stories for Sarah Kathryn" handwritten on it.
Despite the many hours spent with her mom, it wasn't until Valentine's Day last year that Honaker finally heard her father's recording of the couple's love story out loud. Previously, Sarah Kathryn Pinson had only listened to the CD through headphones.
"I just sat here and cried. And mom was just sitting there lighting up and smiling and enjoy his voice," Honaker said.
Sarah Kathryn Pinson's reaction came as no surprise to Rosemary Blieszner, an alumni distinguished professor in Virginia Tech's Human Development department who specializes in gerontology.
"The understanding is that people, even though they might not be able to remember names or what they ate for lunch, that they still have the capability to respond to emotion," Blieszner said.
Though cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's affects individuals differently, Blieszner said it was very possible the cadence and intonation of Larry Pinson's voice was providing a level of comfort to his wife.
"I would say that's really taping into that idea of emotional memory. That's giving her, even if she doesn't remember all the details of her life, in that moment, a positive experience," she said.
Virginia Tech Adult Day Services Director Ila Schepisi, whose program cares for up to 18 geriatric patients each day, confirmed Blieszner's thoughts.
"I could just imagine the level of comfort and familiarity his voice brings her," Schepisi said. "What a wonderful gift he gave to her in his passing."
Honaker said the fact her father thought to leave such a gift was the most touching aspect of the entire situation, but she doubted Larry Pinson ever realized how important that gift would become to the woman he loved.
"I guess he had no way of knowing how just listening to his voice was going to be the comfort to her that it has been," Honaker said.
The recording, about 30 minutes long, contains a handful of spiritual songs and family stories, including the two's earliest encounters at the Pikeville Methodist Hospital in Pikeville, Kentucky, where Larry Pinson worked as an 18-year-old orderly in the central supply room to pay for college.
"At the beginning of each shift the nurses would come there and get their trays," said Larry Pinson through the CD player's speakers.
"There were three sisters working there ... They were beautiful girls. They all had this dark brunette hair and I call it, green mountain eyes, and the combination just kind of, as they say, blew me away," he said.
Despite his early morning college courses, Larry Pinson's voice continues on, he began to go out with the sisters once their work shift ended at 11 p.m.
"I didn't get a lot of sleep that semester," he said.
Sarah Kathryn Pinson was the eldest of the girls, six years Larry Pinson's senior, which led to her encouraging her sisters to date their new friend.
"Finally, after she had nagged them, Anna, the youngest said, 'Well Kathryn, if you think so much of him, why don't you date him,' " Larry Pinson said.
"She and I finally got married in November 1959 on Thanksgiving weekend. End of story," Larry Pinson said.
Or perhaps it was just the beginning.
Larry Pinson went on to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky and later a doctorate in engineering science and mechanics from Virginia Tech in 1973.
In 1963, he began a 32-year career researching and working with launch vehicles, spacecraft and aircraft for NASA .
In 2006 Larry Pinson received the Career Achievement Award from the UK Civil Engineering Alumni.
Honaker said her mother worked as a nurse to get her father through school and then became a stay-at-home mom to her and her two siblings, Earl and Leigh.
The couple eventually became the grandparents of 10 children and relocated to Willis from Northern Virginia in 2000.
Since her father's death, Honaker said she has lived with her mother and helped to provide a large part of the 24-hour care Sarah Kathryn Pinson now requires.
"He didn't want her in a nursing home ever," Honaker said.
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Information from: The Roanoke Times, http://www.roanoke.com
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