Last year, 1273 men and 738 women aged 60 and over have become a groom and a bride
A gray beard, but a lusty heart, so we usually speak of those, who find their soul mate at the age, when their peers, settled on a bench, would complain of sciatica or arrhythmia. But the bold spirits, ready to challenge social prejudice, nevertheless turn up. In 2011 alone about 3000 weddings were registered with a bride and a groom aged over 50. We decided to find the couples, which believe: love is for all ages.
The click of fate
A small room in a large family house of Grigoryaks from Minsk. 68-year-old Mikhail Alekseevich, running his fingers along the keys, sends an email to his friends in St. Petersburg. The message will reach the recipient in a second. As fast as once he himself got: «Hello, my name is Tatiana. I really liked your pictures».
— I broke up with my first husband, and when the children had grown and left home, realized: I do not want to be alone, — Tatiana Anatolievna enters the room. — That`s why I asked the younger son to register me on a dating site.
The young man was not surprised at this initiative of his 65-year-old, fun and active mom. They filled out a questionnaire and started to view the visitors together. Mikhail’s page met their eyes one of the first. «A serious man», — Tatiana thought and wrote to him.
— She couldn’t have missed me, — the man hardly holds back a smile. — I specially had gone to the studio to be photographed. I registered on the site a month before Tanya`s message, and even managed to have gone on a few dates.
But he did not dare to invite Tatiana, so she had to act herself. She sent him a message with the phone number and asked to call back.
In order not to get lost in the vast Minsk, they appointed a meeting in the subway, and from there went to a cafe.
They met in the autumn, and got married in the June of 2011.
— Turns out, it was me who made a proposal, too, — Tatiana Anatolievna jokes. — We were living together, and once the two of us went to pay a utilities bill. It happened that part of the payments was due in my name, and another part — in Mikhail`s. I said: «Let`s submit an application to the registry office, and I will take your surname».
The unexpectedness of it took Mikhail Alekseevich aback and he suggested that they should wait or go there... some other day. But a minute later, he relented.
— The wedding was a holiday for both of us, — the young husband continues. — After the registration we took a long walk through a park, then returned home, and arranged a tea party with our friends.
By the way, Tatiana’s friends and children fully supported the initiative of the newlyweds.
Tatiana and Mikhail have already been together for ten months.
— She won’t ever let me get into trouble, — says Mikhail Alekseevich. — She is a wonderful person, who is willing to give much more than get in return. And she is a strong spirit of a woman. One winter we were returning home from the town. We were standing at the bus stop, but no bus was coming. So we decided to go on foot. It was obvious: she was tired, but she kept going without saying a word. And then she began to sing softly.
Besides, a common cause has emerged — their own homestead. So now builder Mikhail Alekseevich and architect Tatiana Anatolievna are constructing and drawing plans from early morning. Together they have made a gazebo in the yard and furniture for the kitchen.
As for the dating site, their accounts do not exist there anymore — they decided to delete them. They use Internet only 15 minutes a day to check email and respond to letters.
— Haven’t you ever been afraid that others would not accept your love? — I ask.
— I haven’t. If a person can live 100—120 years old, why cannot he have rights for happiness after 60? — not asks, but asserts Tatyana Anatolievna.
The Grigoryak family doesn’t get a bee in the bonnet about what other people might say. All the more that they have a much more important thing to do. They are going to Karlovy Vary resort for what could be deemed a delayed honeymoon.
The telephone jackpot
The phone rings. «Yes, I’m laying the table. Are you going to be here soon? — answers Galina Vasilievna and puts Ukrainian borsch on the table quickly. It is the favorite dish of Mikhail Dmitrievich.
For the 5 years Galina Kasyan and Mikhail Kovalsky have lived together, his wife has cooked him borsch 1000 times.
— Smells nice! Not in vain I had decided to search for you, — jokes the man from the threshold. — I divorced my first wife and when I was 52 years old, I had the courage to ask my friend to introduce me to a good woman. In several days he gave me the phone number of his acquaintance.
Unfortunately, she was already in love with somebody else, but the provident woman wrote her friend’s phone number. That happened to be 47-year-old Galina.
— He called me a month later and explained that he couldn’t do it earlier because he lost my phone number, — smiles the lady of the house, ladling out the appetizing borsch. — His first words were: «Hello, I am Mikhail!» We got into a conversation and I invited him to dinner.
He came on the same day.
— I am from Mokrany. It takes one hour to get to Malorita, where we live now. So, I wanted to go by evening bus. — Mikhail recalls. — But my sister called on me in her car and asked why I was in full dress and where I was going. I told her frankly, that I was going to seek in marriage. She smiled and gave me a lift to the town.
So he appeared at Galina’s house one hour before time.
— I could feel that she was a nice person. — Mikhail confesses. — I’ve served in the Navy for 11 years as a boatswain. The sea teaches to see through people.
On that same day they decided to live together.
— He was not to my taste, not tall and not wiry, — Galina smiles. — But his hands were tired out. It was evident, that he would cut firewood and dig up the garden if needed. This safety won me over.
Time has taught them to accept people as they are.
— Happiness consists of small details, — Mikhail reflects. — I remember, one day things wouldn’t get going at my work and I walked around with my head hung. Galina presented me with a small notebook with an inscription written on the flyleaf of it: «I have faith in you». And I knew, those were not empty words.
8 months later they decided to submit an application to the registry office. If you live together, it’s better to legitimize the relations.
— It’s important, that the children have supported us. I met Mikhail’s at a family party. They sat me opposite his son and we got into a conversation. My children liked the husband, too. We even visited my daughter in Orsha on our honeymoon.
Yet Galina Vasilievna decided not to change her surname. It would have involved a lot of paperwork.
They have already been together for 5 years. Many things have happened over this time. Mikhail Dmitrievich has never got accustomed to Galina’s loud voice. As for Galina Vasilievna, she hasn’t taught him out of leaving books everywhere around the apartment. But after all, all these are just the little nothings of life!..
…Unfortunately, it turned out to be difficult to find people, who wasn’t afraid of telling that they had fallen in love in their 50s. From the two dozen of pairs, whom we have approached, only the two agreed. «Of course not! People would laugh at us!» — said everyone as if they were in collusion. Newlyweds were ashamed and even afraid of their happiness. But is love in 20 not the same as in 50? Perhaps it is more patient and pliant. And what for the phrase «A grey beard, but a lusty heart», it must have been made up by those who just were afraid of being happy and seeing other people happy, too.
