“We really fell in love”: two nonagenarians living in a retirement home said “yes” to each other

Two nonagenarians, living in a retirement home in Austin (in Texas in the United States), got married on November 1.

Jo Cartwright, aged 96, and Bernard Snyder, who is two years older, were far from imagining that love would shake up their lives again. The two nonagenarians, who live in the same retirement home and are both widowed, have decided to concretize their love in marriage.

“Wherever I was, he was there”

Jo Cartwright lost her husband in 2014 and Bernard's wife died last year, reports the Washington Post. Jo explained to the media that she was touched by seeing how Bernard's kindness was expressed towards the woman who had been his wife for 73 years. She was indeed “impressed by the gentleness and kindness he showed towards her”.

When love at first sight struck Bernard's heart, he was very surprised that such a thing could happen to him again. “We really fell in love. I didn’t know it could happen again,” he told the American daily.

Jo began to wonder when she saw how insistent Bernard's looks were sometimes. “Wherever I was, he was there,” she told KUT News. And added: “I looked up and there he was. I thought, 'Maybe this man likes me a little.' »

Bernard decides to take the first step

Then, last January, Bernard decided to take the first step by inviting the one of his heart to celebrate her birthday. Here again, the behavior of this veteran of the Second World War did not escape the nonagenarian. “I was very aware, at his birthday party, that he kept staring at me,” she further told the Washington Post.

One day, she found a bouquet of flowers and a jar of ice cream outside her bedroom door. Then the two lovebirds went on various outings and romantic evenings and gradually grew closer, Jo being “touched” by the numerous attentions of her suitor.

Quite naturally, the young couple decided to unite their hearts in marriage, not without having obtained the consent of their respective families. The two nonagenarians celebrated their wedding in Austin on November 1st.

“The bottom line of this story is that it is possible to love again”

Chuck Borst, director of the retirement home, told Washington Post that its residents and associates “found their love and relationship very comforting and inspiring.” But if the young couple is such a great source of inspiration for all these people, it is in particular because each has boundless admiration for the other.

Bernard considers his wife to be “the warmest, kindest person anyone has ever seen”, and Jo describes her husband as a “precious, dear, kind, very affectionate and attentive” man, a gift from Heaven she didn't expect, especially at 96 years old.

The young couple, who currently live apart, plan to move “into a place big enough” to accommodate all their belongings. “The bottom line of this story is that it is possible to love again,” concluded Jo Cartwright in the columns of KUT Newswishing to leave a message of hope for all those who think that at an advanced age, the time for love is over.