An elderly couple have proven it’s never too late to find love at first sight.
Lovebirds Joe Williams, 84, and Rachel Monger, 80, both lost their partners last year and moved into sheltered housing .
However, after setting eyes on each other over a jigsaw puzzle, love blossomed between the pair - who are now due to be married after romantic Joe proposed on Valentine’s Day .
And, with seven children, 16 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren between them, it promises to be a huge family affair.
Rachel, who worked as a social worker for 20 years, said: “I was never a believer in the whole falling in love at first sight thing but that’s what it was like.
“We fell in love straight away. It was like magic.”
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Joe, who was a nuclear power station foreman in the past, said he plucked up the courage to ask Rachel out for a meal in November, after they bonded over a Remembrance Sunday chat.
He added: “I had a few tears in my eyes thinking about my wife, who I lost last year.
“I had come back from a walk and Rachel was sat on the couch near our apartments doing a jigsaw and she called me over for a chat.
“She was very kind and talked to me and things just went from there.”
The couple have been “together ever since” and Joe popped the question over a meal in his flat - which hedecked out with candles and roses.
Now the smitten pair, who live in Manor House, Birkenhead, hope that their story will inspire more people to continue to find love later in life and not see a move into new accommodation as a backwards step.
The engaged couple, who live in Manor House, in Birkenhead, also want to remove the stigma surrounding sheltered housing, which they said “is absolutely nonsense.”
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Rachel added: “We may be a little older, but we know how to have a good time. Some of the parties we have are fantastic!
“I’m so glad I’ve met Joe. It’s been tough times for both of us but you can’t live in the past. You’ve got to look forward. We’re both really positive people and we’ve got lots of good years ahead of us.”
Meanwhile, Joe said he couldn’t ask for a better place to live – or a better fiancé.
He added: “We’ve got lots of friends, we’re always out in the community and we don’t have a house to run. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made.
