A lovely love story

Jackie’s older daughter called to tell her about a man she wanted her to meet. A FOF widow, Jackie was skeptical because the man was her age. “Forget it,” she told her daughter, “he wants a 35-year-old. They all do.”

“No, he’s a quality guy,” said her daughter, who was working as an intern for The American Cancer Society, where she had met the potential suitor for her mom. He was another volunteer. Her dad and the man’s wife had both died of cancer.

Jackie and Hal are "outrageously happy"

“Jackie met Hal and the chemistry was immediate. They stayed out until 5:30  a.m on their first date. “I could tell right away that he was kind and good, with a soft heart,” she said.

They have been together every day since that first date three years ago. “Although we have different ideas about politics, religion and pets, we are so easy together and have never argued. We don’t try to change the other,” Jackie added.

The families of their deceased spouses celebrated with the lovebirds when they married two years ago. “In a weird way it was so much better than being divorced because no one was mad,” Jackie said.

Three months after the wedding, they moved from Iowa to Kentucky when Hal got a great job offer. They live with Jackie’s younger daughter, who Hal is going to adopt, and they love being Mr. and Mrs. in a new city. (Hal has two grown sons and Jackie’s matchmaker daughter is graduating from Harvard in a few months.)

“Life just gets better and better when you’re FOF! Why, of why, couldn’t we be this smart and comfortable with ourselves when were young? I would have tried to change Hal and argue with him until he saw everything my way,” Jackie said.

“I am wild about my husband and savoring every precious moment we are lucky enough to have together. Life turns on a dime, and we only have right now.”