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Amélie Boukhobza (Clinical psychologist)
This is the great story of the day: two nonagenarians got married in the United States after meeting in a retirement home. A love that questions and arouses admiration. Our psychologist sheds light on these late love at first sights.
Ah love… In Austin (United States), this feeling seems to have defied time. Jo Cartwright, 96, and Bernard Snyder, 98, were married on November 1 after meeting in a nursing home. An astonishing “limitless” love, deciphered by our expert psychologist, Amélie Boukhobza.
A colorful encounter
According to lovers, Bernard Snyder would have taken the first step in a retirement home, by inviting Jo Cartwright to celebrate her 98th birthday. And the nonagenarian knew full well that he liked her, reveals an article from Washington Post.
“I was very aware at his birthday party that he kept staring at me” remembers Jo Cartwright.
Sure of his aura, Bernard Snyder then left a bouquet of flowers and a pot of ice cream in front of the room of his sweetheart, who said she was “touched” by these signs of affection.
“Neither expecting a second chance at love, especially this late in life“, specify our colleagues from Washington Post.
Bernard Snyder will even say it himself “We are really fell in love. I didn’t know this could happen again“. Indeed, the nonagenarian was in a relationship until 2023, the year in which his wife died, after 73 years of marriage.
Jo Cartwright will also affirm that she had “was impressed by the gentleness and kindness he showed towards her.”
A marriage at 96 and 98 years old
After meeting last January, the two lovebirds did not wait long before getting married. The ceremony took place on November 1, 2024, in the gazebo of the Westminster retirement home in Austin, where the two newlyweds reside, specifies BFM TV.
“He is a (…) kind man, very affectionate and attentive. It’s nice at 96 to have someone like that“, confides, all smiles, the young bride.
Does love therefore have no limits?
No offense to the haters, “love has this astonishing ability to defy time”, confirms Amélie Boukhobza.
“At 96 and 98 years old, these two residents of a retirement home remind us of a reality: as long as the heart beats, everything is still possible! Life wins… Their story, very simple, very beautiful, challenges preconceived ideas about age and the limits that we believe are imposed by life.” she admits.
This marriage ultimately constitutes a “snub to fatalistic speeches” on aging.
“Love is stronger than anything and this strength continues throughout life, the proof is. I have many patients who find love again at advanced ages, I find that extraordinary. We still have the right to live, the right to enjoy ourselves and to grant ourselves moments of happinessno matter his age”, says the expert.
Finally, “this couple inspires us to rethink our certainties. And if growing old was not losing, but perhaps gaining, the freedom to love differently, with depth and authenticity? A beautiful lesson on the fact that life, until the end, continues to surprise us“.
Slide: Celebrity couples: the age difference doesn’t scare them!