CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- A man and woman who never planned to get married again were wed Saturday after they say their love gradually blossomed at a Virginia senior living community.
Carolyn Mason, 90, met Harry Mason, 83 when she found the widower sitting alone at a table at Holiday Virginian, an independent senior community in Bon Air.
"I introduced myself to welcome him here," Ms. Mason told WTVR CBS 6 Photojournalist Joe Valdez. "That was the only thing in my mind or his. And we got to know each other through conversations sitting together and pretty soon it became almost every meal."
Mr. Mason said it was not love at first sight when they met in February as he was still grieving his wife of 57 years, whom he dearly loved.
"I'd made a statement when I got here... I said, 'I'll never want another woman, another wife again.' Look what God did... He put us together," he said.
FULL INTERVIEW: She welcomed him to the retirement home. They just got married
The couple said their meals together led to daily walks where they "got to know each other better," which is how Ms. Mason said their love story began.
Then one afternoon on one of their walks, Mr. Mason got up the courage to do something he had been thinking about.
"I was starting to fall for her... You could just feel the attraction, but I didn't know how to approach her," Mr. Mason recalled. "I was afraid she would turn me down if I asked her for a kiss. So I said, 'You want to kiss me, don't you?' And she said, 'Yes.'"
"I said yes because I wanted him to kiss me," Ms. Mason said. "And we kept kissing."
Mr. Mason estimated that it was just "a couple of days later" that he asked her to marry him on Memorial Day, which happened to also be his birthday this year.
"So I decided to go ahead and get my uniform on because it was Memorial Day. But I hadn't worn it in years and it still fit," Mr. Mason recalled.
When staffers at the facility learned of Mr. Mason's plans, they put down a red carpet and that is where she found her love in his Army uniform.
"I looked at her and I said, 'I want to ask this young lady if she would be my blushing bride,'" Mr. Mason said.
Ms. Mason, who said yes, was stunned by the proposal.
"I could hardly believe it that it was happening. I had no intention of ever being married again. And I never thought that this would happen to me," she said. "I just thought we would be friends and it blossomed into more than just friends and it's been blossoming ever since."
The pair said they have the blessings of their families, many of whom were in attendance for the nuptials.
"Everybody is happy for us," Ms. Mason said. "We just feel great together. It feels right —and it will be right for the rest of our lives."
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