They were the "Fred and Ginger" of the dance studio. Maybe not. Were Fred and Ginger a couple off the dance floor? Did a romance ignite when they started dancing together? Maybe they were Cinderella and Prince Charming.
She once told me her story, before and after she met her husband. She had a child-like sense of joy about her when she spoke of her life and he was such a very big part of her story.
They were both single and had never been married. He was 60 when they met and fell in love. From someone who feels like the romance ship has sailed in, out and through their life at the age of 55, I look to my favourite dance couple and marvel at the proven fact you are never too old to fall in love and start a life together.
Last night, she spoke of him and them with a sense of naiveté and wonder. She talked of how they met. She told us of the ways he listened and gently guided her through her life's journey. She called him "Sweetie.”
I have never known one, without the other. In my eyes, they have been a couple "forever.” But they weren't. In actuality, they were newlyweds when I first met them. Funny I didn't realize that at the time. They simply seemed meant for each other.
Destiny and dancing brought these two young souls together and two lives merged into one life together. They are two of the kindest, most caring, giving and fun-loving people I know. I aspired to be part of a couple that emulated the love and joy they had found together.
Their wedding vows saw them through "in sickness and in health.” The last time I spoke to him, his health was declining and when I asked how he was, his only concern was for his wife. They had moved out of their house and into a seniors’ condominium and he was so pleased his wife was surrounded by a caring community and out of their high maintenance home. She was happy and that, to me, sounded like his greatest joy.
He passed away last week. Last night, his brave and courageous wife got up and spoke about him and her and them in front of a room full of family, friends and community.
She looked so strong and her love for him superseded all else as she told us their love story. Her voice was young and her words were full of life as she remembered the impact he had made on her life.
I thought that kind of love only happened in fairy tales.
I am grateful to know this couple that fell in love on the dance floor and forged a partnership which carried them through their lives together. And they will live happily ever after, within her heart and all of those who were privileged to know this real life couple who walked straight out of a fairy tale and into our lives.
