Yes, It happened. I have accepted the fact that I’m a senior and so has my Consort. I am grateful—we have been together for 25 years thinking ourselves content and forever young. However, once upon a time—love was puzzling.

I recently came across some notes I sadly jotted down before I met the man. This was after a few impulsive relationships and a marriage that went south after seven years. In a yellowed notebook there was this note to self:

“What am I trying to discover?”

“ When duty fits your values, happiness will follow.”

There was a reference to The Fairie Queen by Spenser: (I mean, really!)

“He should be a brave or honest man in the realm of love. When I say honest, I mean he must be true to what he feels. The same with bravery, showing the valour to transcend self-doubt and pointless logic to accept the rarity of my love, which is a comet.”

I believe this was my attempt at, “If I Build It, He Will Come”, and by golly it worked. He arrived when we were both 40 years of age. If my story was The Fairie Queen, I was indeed Una to his befuddled Redcross Knight. 

Our time together has featured the complicated and trendy, Blended Family situation, financial ups and downs, general bad and good behaviour from ourselves and from family. There was a great deal of travel— (cause of financial downs). There were comedic episodes and perplexing situations that are hysterically funny in hindsight. Notice the italics.

Now we are are 66. If you are young—(someone below 60 years of age and according to my 98 year old mother, a toddler—85 years of age and you are a sprite teenager in her estimation)—you might be wondering when love, true love, will find you. All I can say after 100 years of it being subject matter in my profession is that it does, when you’ve done the work and refrain from the criteria that messes you up.

Criteria That Messes You Up 

Must be wealthy

Must be great looking

Must like Jazz

Must take me to Paris

You know you do this. Also, when one stops being jealous. And we are all stalkers when when we’re young. People of my generation have finally stopped this, (I actually did a poll),  because it takes work, like skiing, and I have always disliked skiing.

Consort and I hang out a lot. This is because we have no other choice. We have discovered we have responsibilities to others and if we give up on each other, the others will weep. 

Now, in the “third of third”, as we refer to our lives, we have found that when we are not bickering we actually enjoy each other’s company. We like each other. We have have become a Senior Roadshow, laughing our way around town and turning into George Burns & Gracie Allen in Supermarkets.

Recently, we were excited to find Olive Garden Salad dressing, swooping several from the shelf. There was the usual camaraderie at the checkout, there always is in small town—then we happily pushed our cart to the car. As Consort unloaded our groceries, he discovered that the flowers we bought had hid our Olive Garden Salad dressings. “We are thieves!” He exclaimed.

“Well…” I said, “You know that there isn’t much Seniors get for free these days. Let’s look at this as a perk”.