NEW YORK (PIX11) — Who said marriage is just for the young? Surveys have shown in recent years there has been an increase in marriages of couples over the age of 50.
Love can find you at any age. Just ask a 93-year-old bachelor in New Jersey who’s getting married to an 84-year-old woman he met more than six decades ago.
As the lyrics to the song go, “At last my love has come along,” it has taken 64 years for love to come along for Joseph Potenzano.
Potenzano is marrying his longtime sweetheart, 84-year-old Mary Elkind. The couple lives by the philosophy that love has no age or limit. They met back in 1958 at Potanzano’s sister’s wedding. He was the best man, Mary’s maid of honor.
“It took 64 years for you to make up your mind,” Mary teases her fiance, looking at pictures in the vintage wedding album.
Time passed them by.
Mary was a dancer at Radio City Music Hall and got married. Joseph joined the Army and afterward became an engineer. But they were never strangers. They remained friends and frequently met at family functions.
Years after Mary’s husband died, Joseph built up the courage to invite her for a coffee date last year. But he said he was a bit concerned.
“I thought maybe she didn’t care for me,” he said.
But to his surprise, Mary said she had often thought of him.
“I was lonely and was very happy when we started going together,” she said, adding, “That loneliness has disappeared now.”
Joseph was ecstatic.
“When I found out she cared for me and I cared for her, I realized that this was something I never knew before. This is precious,” he said.
The first time Joseph popped the question, Mary said she wasn’t sure she wanted to marry again. But the second time he asked her, Mary bubbled:
“Why not? We love each other, that’s for sure. At our age, we decided if we’re going to get married, it has to be soon,” Mary said.
Joseph was asked why, after 64 years, he waited so long to ask Mary to marry him.
“I was stupid,” he quipped. Then he added, “There was something in my life that said, ‘Joey, you’re not going to get married. You’re going to have to wait awhile til you get together with Mary.'”
Sitting on the sofa at Potenzano’s home in Paramus, New Jersey, Mary and Joseph sparkled like teenagers in love.
“I felt this was a marriage that would last my lifetime, and I want it to be successful even though we have a short period of our lifespan, so I’m going to do everything to make her happy and try and be a good husband,” Joseph declared.
“Age is just a number, and when two people are in love and want to be together, why not? It took a long time, but we finally got together,” Mary said.
Mary and Joseph never set out to have a large wedding. They initially thought they’d have just a few people. But now they have 90 guests and are growing. This couple said they’re traditionalists, which means they have no intentions of living together before their wedding on Oct. 15.
The 93-year-old said this romance story goes to prove one thing.
“You’re never too old for love,” he said.
