I was having lunch with a friend last week, talking in a round about way of love and ambivalence and the hesitancy to pursue new love that can set in over time. Well, this sweet Minnesotan couple in their late 70s has no ambivalence about it at all (which is good because if you hesitate at 80, other events could overtake you.)

Charlie and Dorothy, cute as buttons, recently married at the 125-year-old St. Paul Winter Carnival.

“Charlie [the bridegroom] used to be, might I say, a bit reserved in his affections,” said Beth Naughton, a longtime friend of the bride. “But now Charlie is just like an open book with his feelings and his emotions in a way that’s new to me.”

Sharon Hayes, the older daughter of the bride, said that she, too, sees a new side to her mother. “She has this permanent grin on her face that’s been years since I’ve seen,” she said.

And the bride says:

“You’re looking out of the same eyes as you did at 30,” she said, “and it’s still the same world, with trees and snow.”

It’s good to know that you can have new love no matter how old you are and no matter how old you are, the trees and the snow can look different.   And that’s coming from a Minnesotan who has seen a whole lotta snow.