Modern, Old-Timey Love

January 25, 2013 9:07 AM

"We must never travel separately again.” Author Eve Pell on old, young love.
posted by roomthreeseventeen (14 comments total)

Lovely.
posted by jbickers at 9:16 AM on January 25, 2013

D'aw. I think I teared up a bit where she says she even got him flowers on his ex-wife's birthday.

What a sweet story!
posted by jillithd at 9:21 AM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

Just beautiful. My own grandfather died about 10 years ago and we worried about my grandmother - they had married very young and had been basically inseparable for 50+ years. But a few years ago she met a man in her retirement condo and they were married a year or so later. They maintain separate apartments (across the hall from one another) because the units are so tiny. Their shared cat goes back and forth and they clearly adore each other. They come from similar cultural backgrounds, they go to church together, he cooks for her, and together they maintain a fairly substantial vegetable garden on the periphery of the condo property (with the permission of the management). It's just plain wonderful. There are a hell of a lot of worse ways to spend your extra-golden years.
posted by jquinby at 9:29 AM on January 25, 2013 [3 favorites]

"I gave him flowers on Betty’s birthday." That is beautiful.

And this, "I learned to give hospital nurses $20 Starbucks cards to get special care for him", is terribly sad.
posted by HuronBob at 9:37 AM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

We traveled to Italy to compete in the 2007 World Masters Athletics Championships (what I fondly call “The Geriatric Olympics”), where we both won gold medals in our respective age brackets: 70 to 74 for me and 80 to 84 for Sam. At home, we planted a garden; I finished writing a memoir. Every morning we did push-ups;

Geeze, way to make this 30 year old feel utterly, crushingly inadequate.

Seriously great story though.
posted by kmz at 9:44 AM on January 25, 2013

What a wonderful story. Our hearts stay young no matter how damn old our bodies get, as long as we're open to it.
posted by LooseFilter at 9:45 AM on January 25, 2013

Aww, the oldest and simplest stories are often the best and the sweetest.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:59 AM on January 25, 2013

Beautiful and sweet. Thanks.
posted by windykites at 10:20 AM on January 25, 2013

Beautiful. Thank you so much for posting this.
posted by Allee Katze at 10:28 AM on January 25, 2013

Mumble mumble something in my eye
posted by Lithopedian at 10:57 AM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

That was a lovely story.

But their high level of activity made me like a sloth.
posted by shoesietart at 12:24 PM on January 25, 2013

Aww, geez. If only we could all have some of that.
posted by Glinn at 1:55 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

“We are so lucky.” And we were. Young love, even for old people, can be surprisingly bountiful.

Geez, these new contacts are really bugging my eyes.
posted by scody at 5:33 PM on January 25, 2013 [1 favorite]

That is beautiful.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:36 AM on January 26, 2013