Bristol couple find love in their 70s

After finding love in their 70s, one happy Bristol couple say they feel like "recycled teenagers".

Brian Hedges, 72, and Mary Darke, 75, met about 18 months ago through an Age Concern Bristol scheme called The Go Getters – groups of older people who volunteer to help improve relationships between them and their community.

Brian was driving the mini bus taking local residents to the Age Concern day service in Withywood when Mary started volunteering at the centre.

Brian said he liked Mary from the moment he saw her.

He said: "I thought – that is a nice looking lady, I would like to find out more about her. It was about six months before we worked out that we were both unattached, and things went from there."

Their relationship grew stronger as they volunteered together at the Go Getters lunch club in St Anne's.

Brian moved into Mary's Stockwood home in the summer this year, and proposed in August. But it didn't all go to plan – Mary turned him down.

He said: "I wasn't put off. She needed time to think about it, so about a month later when I took her out for a Sunday lunch in Saltford I asked her again, and this time she said yes."

The couple say they feel like they are 17 all over again. Brian said: "We feel rejuvenated, like recycled teenagers."

Mary said she found it tough adjusting to sharing her home with someone again. "It was strange to be living with him, but it is all OK now and we have a good time together."

Brian says he spoils his new fiancée, doing all the washing up and making her breakfast every morning.

Mary, who used to work in school kitchens, has two children and three grandchildren. Her husband Reg died seven years ago.

Brian, who has four children and nine grandchildren, retired from his job as a coach driver to take care of his wife Geraldine, who had Alzheimer's. She died three years ago.

Brian said: "We never thought we would meet anyone else after each of our partners died. Our families were a bit shocked at first but now they accept it and I think they are over the moon. They realise that we deserve to be happy again."

He added: "I love Mary immensely, I can't do enough to make her happy, and she makes me very happy too."

The couple will be married on October 2, 2010, at St Anne's Church.

If you live in Bristol and would like to become an Age Concern Bristol Go Getter in your local community, call Nic Lewis on 07962 567 308, or call the main office on 0117 929 7537.