I’m 62 years old and I’ve never been married. Not bad looking, and not too neurotic as unmarried women go—so one might wonder how I slipped through the matrimonial cracks all those years. Way back when I was 21 and refused to marry the mean-spirited boy next door, my mother convinced me I would remain a spinster in every sense of the word, and over the years I managed to fulfill her prophesy. Until now.

Recently, I gave up the singles scene, even though I had originally moved to Las Vegas because of the town’s wonderfully lopsided ratio of single men to single women. Once I had deluded myself into thinking I no longer cared about finding someone, and that I was much better off on my own, I recanted my position. It happened the day I spotted an attractive man across the room of a crowded restaurant and immediately knew in my heart he was “the one.” Paul was tall, white-haired, and handsome—with a toothy grin and a sly gleam in his eye. I had no idea how to attract his attention, so I smiled at him. To my disappointment, he did not react—too wrapped up, it seemed, in his dinner conversation with two similarly aged men in business attire.  

I couldn’t stop thinking about him, so you can imagine my delight when I saw him again some weeks later—same restaurant, same table, only this time he was alone. Before I had a chance to lose my nerve, I approached him and asked for a light. He laughed when I told him I didn’t smoke, but that I had once seen that line work in an old movie, and couldn’t think of anything else to say. Still smiling, he invited me to join him for dinner, as he hated dining alone. That was six months ago, and neither of us has dined alone since.

Getting acquainted, I was reluctant to confess to him that I had never been married, let alone a virgin. By contrast, he’s been married and divorced three times, and ironically found my inexperience refreshing. Over time we have found a comfort level with each other that was never there for either of us before—although, certainly, I can only speak for myself.  

The wedding date is set for next week. His four grown kids will be in attendance, and they are already accepting me into their lives. Not only am I acquiring a husband for the first time in my life, but a complete family unit.