Life-Long Love

This is going to be hokey. If you can’t stand the idea of romance after sixty, come back in a couple of days. I am sure you’ll find something really cool to read here. If you are in your forties or younger, however, you might stick around and see that romance can get you through a lot of the tough spots that life doles out more or less indiscriminately.

Our Wedding

Members of the generation after mine that I know, or know about, report being lonely and longing for a “relationship” but can’t manage to find one. Parents of people in their late teens and early twenties tell me their kids are lovelorn under their veneer of jaded carelessness. Younger people today are willing to bungee jump off old railroad trestles, but they can’t allow themselves to fall in love.

My generation was not so constricted.

Halfway Between Then
and Now

My favorite party of the year, thrown by my best friend of over fifty years and her husband of nearly 45 of those years, celebrates the love affairs of five couples, four of which have been to together for decades and one that fell in love after they started collecting Social Security. The bonds we have with our spouses, and now with one another after about ten years of meeting every Valentine’s week, are gorgeous to behold. Each year, our hostess asks us to read something about love. This year the theme was love over sixty. We had quotes from famous writers, a sonnet by Shakespeare; one couple had us sing along with The Beatles to “When I’m Sixty-Four.” I admit that I liked the song long before it described my demographic cohort.

OLD!

The highlight this year was a reading of personal ads from “The Villages,” a Florida newspaper. I reproduce them here for your amusement and inspiration:

FOXY LADY: Sexy, fashion-conscious blue-haired beauty, 80’s, slim, 5’ 4” (used to be 5’6”), searching for sharp-looking, sharp-dressing companion. Matching white shoes and a belt is a plus.

SERENITY NOW: I am into solitude, long walks, sunrises, the ocean, yoga and meditation. If you are the silent type, let’s get together, take our hearing aids out and enjoy quiet times.

WINNING SMILE: Active grandmother with original teeth seeking a dedicated flosser to share rare steaks, corn on the cob and caramel candy.

BEATLES OR STONES? I still like to rock, still like to cruise in my Camaro on Saturday nights and still like to play the guitar. If you were a groovy chick, or are now a groovy hen, let’s get together and listen to my eight-track tapes.

MEMORIES: I can still usually remember Monday through Thursday. If you can remember Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let’s put our heads together.

MINT CONDITION: Male, 1926, high mileage, good condition, some hair, many new parts including hip, knee, cornea, valves. Isn’t in running condition, but walks well.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT: Recent widow who has just buried fourth husband, and am looking for someone to round out a six-unit plot. Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath not a problem.

If these folks can still contemplate romance, come on you young folks out there. Take the plunge. Fall in love. If you power through the inevitable rough spots, it could last your whole life long. And even if it doesn’t, in the long run, it will have been worth it. ‘Tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all.

Now sing along with this:

Annamaria Alfieri