A newly-engaged couple wants the world to know: You’re never too old to find true love.
On Valentine’s Day, HCA Healthcare’s Trident Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina, rolled out the red carpet (literally!) to honor two of their volunteers who recently got engaged. Ron Hill and Pat LoPresti both lost their spouses a few years ago.
Neither Pat nor Ron had any romantic designs or intentions when they decided to volunteer at the hospital. Ron was simply looking to get out of the house once a week, and Pat wanted to be of use to others. Both worked different days for months without ever crossing paths. Ron was there on Wednesdays, Pat on Thursdays.
Volunteers were furloughed during the pandemic, and when they were welcomed back in March 2021, Ron and Pat were both scheduled to come in on Mondays. They hit it off right away and started having lunch together. It didn’t take long to realize there was more than just a friendship blossoming between them!
At 78, Pat never dreamed she’d fall in love again. Similarly, 73-year-old Ron was content to stay single forever. Fate had other plans!
“We never gave [dating] a thought,” Pat explained. “Here we were, both widows, thinking we were going to be OK if we were alone for the rest of our lives. We had friends, we had family, we had fellow volunteers. We were going to be OK. And then – surprise – we bumped into each other.”
Eventually, Ron worked up the courage to ask Pat for her phone number. They both wanted to start dating, but they’d been out of the dating game for so long they weren’t even sure how it’s done anymore! They went to a botanical garden for their first date, and they were so rusty they weren’t even sure what to do at the end of the date.
“We were both so shy that when we said goodbye, what did we do? We shook hands!” Pat said. “We were so bashful. And we laugh about it to this day, and I said, ‘This man is never going to call me again.'”
But Ron did call. In fact, the couple started dating regularly, crossing items like trips to the Grand Canyon off their bucket lists and simply enjoying the companionship of having a partner again. Almost a year later, they’re still going strong. So strong, in fact, that Ron decided to pop the question!
Pat and Ron are planning an October wedding. Meanwhile, the hospital was tickled pink that two of their volunteers had hit it off in such a meaningful way. They decided to honor the love birds with a special Valentine’s Day celebration. It was a nice precursor to a wedding ceremony!
The couple is grateful to the hospital for bringing them together. However, they think it was a higher power that ultimately set them up.
“It’s got to be the man upstairs who put us together for a reason,” Ron said.
They can’t wait to walk down the aisle and say their “I dos,” and they’ll be sure to keep their sense of humor when they do.
“When [the pastor] says, ‘You may now kiss your lawfully wedded wife,’ we’re going to shake hands first – and then you can kiss the bride,” Pat joked.
You just never know when Cupid might come calling! Ron and Pat got a second chance at love, simply by being open to the possibilities.
Share this story to wish them all the best!
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