Seniors Plan Their Wedding and Get Married
Senior Older Couples – Falling in Love, Getting Engaged, Getting married
These are true stories, sure as I am sitting here at my keyboard writing this. Love is often saved for the young…here are a few tales that may change your mind on love, aging and Older Couples
Myrtle had always been a practical woman. She kept an efficient house, raised 4 healthy kids and one demanding husband, and took no nonsense from anyone. Her fame as a legendery cook was famous, and the years had been kind to her. Her skin was still fair and relatively unwrinkled, she dressed well, and was active in the community.
She was a faithful wife too. Nursing her husband through a series of illnesses, until the day when she finally laid him to rest, confident that she had loved her husband and honoured her wedding vows fully.
Bill was a widower, and had come to the nursing home after the sad loss of his wife of 40 years.
Both Bill and Myrtle felt strange, when they first checked into the nursing home. What life held for them now was a slow march towards the end, and they were lost, a feeling they had never experienced. They had always had control of their lives, and now, the future looked daunting.
It was inevitable that the two of them formed a strong friendship, as they were both people who found themselves not in control for the first time in their lives. They often were seen walking in the garden together, talking and having an afternoon coffee in the gazebo. Cupid must have seen them, as did many others in the home….gossip began that the two were getting “too familiar” by the other residents. But love knows no age.
The romance between them blossomed, but I can’t talk of that here. There are some things that happen between a man and a woman that are private. The families of Bill and Myrtle were beside themselves. Both of them were wealthy, and the inheritance was being frittered away on candlelight dinners and dancing.
Will You Marry Me?
One morning, Bill went missing, and his family were beside themselves. It took a few hours to realize that Myrtle had also not been seen that morning.
Her family rushed over when they heard. On her bed was a note that explained all.
I Did!
” Bill and I love each other. 
We have eloped to get married”
…Mom”
I wasn’t there to see the reaction on the newly wed’s return. The staff decorated their new room with rose petals and had a bottle of champagne and chocolates for the happy couple. I heard the children were on sedation for a while, but they recovered, eventually.
Permission for publication on A-Wedding Day,
given by Ann Maree Cooke copyright © Ann Maree Cooke, 2000, All rights reserved
