Senior dating advice: Follow your heart; trust your instincts
Sometimes, older singles surprise the heck out of me. They fly in the face of conventional wisdom and don’t follow the advice of so-called senior dating experts. Having written about senior dating and finding love after 50 for 23 years, I consider Tom P. Blake to be a senior dating expert, and sometimes single singles don't listen to me either. This week, I received an email from couple, who reminded me that 15 years ago, they said the heck with senior dating conventional wisdom. Cheryl, Mission Viejo, California, emailed, “In 2003, you wrote a story about Guy and me meeting at our 40th Lakewood High Reunion. We married three months later and some of your readers thought I was insane for agreeing to marry just three days after that first meeting. You defended us in your column. “A few weeks ago, we renewed vows at Wayfarer’s Chapel in Palos Verde, California, celebrating 15 years of marriage. “We were not old flames. We never dated in high school, and only shared a couple of classes together. “A new friend of mine told me she remembered Tom Blake's article about Cheryl and Guy, and I got out my file and reread everything. What fun I had doing that. “Guy and I last spoke to you in person at The Coach House, in San Juan Capistrano, at a Don Ho concert 10+ years ago and I wanted to give you an update on our relationship, since so many people thought we were making a big mistake. “After we married, we took a three-week safari in Kenya and Tanzania. Shortly thereafter, I quit my job at the Orange County Sheriff’s office and we have traveled the world ever since. Because we married on the Big Island in Hawaii, we have returned 10 times for our New Year’s Eve wedding anniversary. “We have kissed the Blarney Stone in Ireland, rode camels by the pyramids in Egypt, climbed Machu Picchu in Peru, gone through the Panama Canal in a small ferry boat, spent a month in France wine/champagne tasting and visiting the D-Day beaches and museums, and visited Casablanca (There is a Rick’s Café there) just to name a few highlights of our adventures to date.
Tom's partner Greta at Rick's Cafe piano in Casablanca in 2013
“We remain as excited as we were walking the beach after lunch the day after our reunion, 15 years ago—and cannot believe so many years have passed. “We still live in the same house I was in when we married. Guy paid it off after we wed and we are totally debt free and enjoying life.” The senior dating lesson in today’s newsletter: Don’t be foolish, but follow your heart, trust your instincts. Don’t be shackled by what people say or think. We don’t know how much more time we have on this earth. So, enjoy it
It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years! This plaque was on the wall at Christian and Jay's Schachner's downtown condo in Graz, Austria, where Greta and I stayed in 2014.
Isn't that the truth?
