An elderly couple heartbroken since being separated by a lack of space at a B.C. care home are a step closer to resting their heads under the same roof again.

Wolf Gottschalk, 83, will move to a complex care facility a few blocks away from his wife Anita, 81, while waiting at the top of a list to join the nursing home where she is being cared for.

The Gottschalks have lived in separate care homes for the past eight months, relying on family members to drive Anita 30 minutes to see her husband every second day.

The family has worried the couple’s heartbreak will worsen their failing health. Wolf is in the early stages of dementia. Earlier this month, the family found out he also has lymphoma.

“We are that much closer to having them under one roof! Progress!,” said granddaughter Ashley Bartyik in a Facebook post Monday.

A photo of the couple wiping away tears at a recent visit has been shared nearly 11,000 times since Bartyik posted it on Facebook last week.

“They cry every time they see each other, and it is heartbreaking,” she wrote in her original post, calling it “the saddest photo I have ever taken.”

Last week, she told CTV News Channel she has had an outpouring of private messages from strangers offering advice and thanking her for sharing the story.

Health care service provider Fraser Health cannot say when or if Wolf can be accommodated in the same home as his wife. The company says it has been working to get the couple together, but notes that not a single care space has opened up at since Anita moved in. Wolf requires much more care than Anita as a result of his deteriorating health.

Bartyik feels the temporary arrangement is a good first step in bringing them together again.

This way (Wolf) is receiving great care while waiting to be with my Omi, and in close vicinity, making it easier for our family,” she wrote. “We took a huge step in the right direction and thank Fraser Health for the communication, and (for) making the option available.”

Bartyik says her grandparents have been virtually inseparable through their more than six decades of marriage. She posted the emotionally-charged photo with the hope that the attention would pave the way for better accommodation for other families. She says she is reassured that some progress is being made.

“(Fraser Health) informed us they already started fixing their communication with other families, which is what we are striving for,” Bartyik wrote.