"We're so happy to have found each other," the husband said.
Even though online dating is a rather new concept, it helped 93-year-old Robert Marshal find true love in 88-year-old Anne Cooper-Menguy. In fact, it was love at first sight for Marshal who came across Cooper-Menguy's profile on an online dating platform in October 2019.
"I always felt I wanted to marry Anne. From the moment that I saw her picture, I knew this is a woman I wanted to share my life with," he told PEOPLE. "Anne's picture just captured me. It was kind of an intuitive, unbelievable force."
The two ended up tying the knot in June 2022, and their love story now serves as a source of inspiration that it is never too late to find love. "We are the luckiest two people on earth," Cooper-Menguy said.
Both of them were widowed before they tried to test their luck with online dating. "I think when people lose a spouse when you're older, most people just kind of consider that's the end of the era—you've been married for 50 years, 60 years, you're in your 80s, grandma takes over, you go play with the grandkids," Cooper-Menguy said. "But today people are healthier and living longer."
At 93 and 88, Newlyweds Feel Like the 'Luckiest Two People on Earth' — All Thanks to Online Dating https://t.co/uBdraXOLee
— People (@people) August 3, 2022
Marshal had already been on the dating site, match.com, for about two years "and probably went through 10,000 pictures and 100 telephone conversations," before he landed on Cooper-Menguy.
Then, "one day I saw this picture that meant more than a thousand words," said Marshal. "Somehow Anne's picture just captured me. There was something in the picture that somehow I sensed her, I sensed her past, the future — everything was in that photo."
For their first date, the two went to a French restaurant, and it was J'adore for both of them. "I started to fall in love with him right off the bat," Cooper-Menguy. "He's got gentleness mixed with strength. He's everything I ever dreamed of in a man since I was little."
In March 2020, the two of them went on a two-week long cruise, and once they got back to New York, they were forced to quarantine together, because of the pandemic. "I never went home," Cooper-Menguy admitted.
Love happens at any
— Ms. Frances Payton (@payton_frances) August 3, 2022
Age... 💑 ❤❤
Love is..... " Unlimited
Honestly, they're just having a lot of fun and living their life. They're both very active, high-energy people who love going to jazz clubs, and describe themselves as "zesty."
"We're busy all the time. I don't think I ever sit down," Cooper-Menguy said. "We're extremely well matched, which is very unusual. If you get old, and you find somebody who's old and tired, that's not going to work."
On Christmas in 2020, the two made it official by getting engaged. "I feel really very alive living with Anne she's helped bring me back to life," Marshal said. "We're so happy to have found each other."
Eventually, in June 2022, the couple tied the knot. "It was the best wedding ever," the bride said of their nuptials. "The whole room was full of nothing but love, both sides of the aisle."
Marshal cried just remembering the day. "We touched so many souls," he says, "because we love each other so much. We're so happy to have found each other."
References:
https://people.com/human-interest/newlyweds-93-and-88-feel-like-the-luckiest-two-people-on-earth-thanks-to-online-dating-real-life-love/
Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Carlo Prearo | EyeEm
