By Tom Blake
Finding a compatible mate in one’s senior years is difficult. It can happen when people get out of the house, walk, and intermingle with others. Charlotte, a Dana Point woman, shared her senior-finding-love story.
Charlotte wrote, “In 2013, I was 69 and content with my life as a single woman. I had been walking for 20 years in Dana Point Harbor six days a week.
“One day, while walking on Dana Point Island, I saw a man flailing around trying to collapse a blue-colored beach chair. He looked funny and flustered. I started laughing and called out to him, ‘My money is on the chair!’
“He asked me to show him how it was done. No problem, except I couldn’t collapse it, either. We stood there laughing until a lady saw us from her car and mercifully showed us how to collapse it. He said his name was Phillip.
“I knew on that first day that something special had just happened, that he was the one for me even though he lived in England and was a recent widower. I figured, ‘Just my luck, no chance whatsoever.’ Later, I told four friends and my sister that I had met the one.
“Phillip was visiting his son in Trabuco Canyon for Christmas. He had lost his wife of 60 years six months before, so I knew he was dealing with that.”
They waved goodbye. No contact information had been exchanged.
Charlotte continued, “I KNEW I was going to see him again. I made sure to look fabulous the next day, and there he was at the same location. I smiled upon seeing him. We talked for two hours. Phillip said he was going home soon, so we exchanged email addresses.
“We started corresponding. A month later, he said he was coming back to the U.S. I was very happy about that.
“I told him how much I missed him and that I loved him. He asked how I could love him; I said I didn’t know, but knew I did.
“Phillip has three children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His children had no problem when he told them about me. All they said was, ‘Dad, we want you to be happy.’ ”
Charlotte commented on their ages. “Phillip was 82 at the time, 13 years older,” she said. “He was reluctant at first to share that info with me. He did a week later. I couldn’t have cared less; I was totally hooked by that time. He’s a very vital man, mentally and physically.
“He seemed ageless, sharp as a tack, in good shape, and the best part is he made me laugh a lot, and that’s the cherry on top for me; we laugh every day. His sense of humor was all that mattered.
“He moved in with me within a month after his return to the States. Just four months after we met. He was concerned that it had only been eight months since his wife had passed. I was sensitive to that issue, too, but, regardless, I just laid it all out there; I truly loved him and told him so again.
“We both knew it was meant to be. It’s been nine years now, and we are as happy as two clams. I say to single seniors, don’t wait around, jump in and swim; you will enjoy the water.
“Had he not been struggling with the blue chair, I would have walked right by and missed the love of my life. We live in Dana Point.
Tom Blake is a retired Dana Point business owner and resident who has authored books on middle-aged dating. See his website at findingloveafter50.com. To comment: tompblake@gmail.com.
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