A Love Story (We're always young inside)

[libby]

On Sundays, the Washington Post has a page for people who want to not only announce their weddings, but also  tell their stories. Most of the time I glance at them and move on, but the one today is different. I wish I could show their picture, but don't know how. Suffice it to say the groom is 80 and the bride is close to that although her actual age is not given. Both look much younger.


On Love: Ann Belkov and Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis and Ann Belkov met in May 2004 and were married more than 10 years later, on Oct. 17, in the District. (Brian Kent)

By Megan McDonough January 9, 2014

Ann Belkov took her time to find and marry the right man — 75 years to be exact. "I had to kiss a lot of toads to get my prince," she says.

The first-time bride says that when she was young, she chose career over marriage. Ambitious and smart, she quickly moved up the career ladder at the National Park Service and accepted challenging assignments coast to coast.

"I never minded moving because I had no attachments, except to myself, my parents and my siblings," Ann says. "I was footloose and fancy free. I loved it."

But after her retirement in 1996 as superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Museum, Ann began to question why she never married.

"I certainly had some wonderful relationships, but none of them were meant to be forever," she says. "I was a very strong, powerful, independent woman. . . . In some ways, I think I pushed guys away when things got too close."

She explored online dating and answered personal ads, but nothing seemed to stick. That is, until she was set up on a blind date with a friend's running buddy, Jerry Lewis. The couple met in May 2004 at Clyde's of Tysons Corner.

Ann was intrigued by the blue-eyed, well-traveled Brooklyn native. "He was this tall, very slim, handsome silver fox with a great big smile," she says. "I was enamored with him."

No surprises there. Jerry, 81, a charismatic former international development and humanitarian organization executive, has traveled extensively around the world, has lived in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and has completed more than 30 marathons. He even once managed nearly 3,000 pigs on a hog farm in Venezuela.

Also, much like the comedian who shares his name, Jerry has an infectious sense of humor and a sharp wit. When asked what he first noticed about Ann, he responded that she was a "tall, super-hot blonde" and the "classiest of dressers."

Jerry also felt a strong physical and emotional attraction right from the start. "We clicked immediately, and that was it," he says. "She just has an ability with people. She touches [them], they connect and they stay connected with her."

At Clyde's that evening, drinks turned seamlessly into dinner. After six hours of chatting, they finally said good night. Jerry walked Ann to her car, gave her a European-style double kiss and promised to call.

Soon, they were talking on the phone every other day and planning weekends. Whether it was tap-dancing lessons or memoir-writing classes, they were both up for new challenges.

Past suitors couldn't keep up with Ann, but Jerry could and did. "One of my problems is that I would always get bored with men," she says. "But I'm never bored with Jerry. . . . He is 81 going on 13."
Then a divorcee with three grown children, Jerry made it clear early on that he was seeking companionship and a romantic relationship, but did not want to remarry. "Marriage was not on my mind, but meeting the right woman was," he says.

So they began a 10-year love affair as "life partners."

"We have always been fully committed to each other and felt very secure in our relationship," Ann says. "I have never ever questioned how much Jerry cares about me."

Over the past decade, the couple has traveled together to more than 15 countries. "Every time we go to a different place or have a new experience together, we re-fall in love with each other," she says.

The two have never lived together and plan to continue that arrangement as husband and wife (Ann in Arlington and Jerry 35 minutes away in Reston), devoting weekdays to their own interests and activities. But they spend weekends together and travel four months out of the year.

"When we are too old and need to live together to take care of each other, we will. I'll move to Jerry's house, live in a furnished basement downstairs and come upstairs on weekends. It's a perfect plan for happiness," Ann says.

In May 2014, while on vacation in Croatia, a friend asked them why they had never married. Ann laughed off the subject, like always.

This time, however, the conversation struck a chord with Jerry. "I knew that it would make her happy," says Jerry, adding, "Now she can say she's done everything." The next morning he purchased a Murano glass ring. "I bartered them down from 15 euros [to 10] euros," he says proudly. "It was a pretty good deal. I also got a cardboard box to present it in. I had to pay extra for that."

At a seaside cafe at sunset, Jerry got down on one knee — just barely, Ann says — and proposed. "We've had 10 wonderful years together, now let's have 20 more!"

Ann was speechless. They laughed and they cried, until they had to call over a waiter to help Jerry get up off his knee.

Jerry Lewis married Ann Belkov on Oct. 17 at the Joy of Motion Dance Center at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on H Street NE, where Ann is a board member. The couple decided to tie their wedding celebration to the center's annual gala and provided their guests with tickets to the festivities.

The bride made her grand entrance to Etta James's "At Last." As the doors opened, she paused, theatrically threw her hands up and proclaimed, "Attt laaassstt" to the crowd and soon-to-be husband. Guests erupted in laughter, cheers and applause.

The pair exchanged vows under a custom-made chuppah, a nod to the groom's Jewish heritage. Their oaths were practical, but personal: Ann promised to pick out the couple's clothes and restaurants, while Jerry assured Ann he would select their movies and travel destinations.

Before their guests joined the 600 gala attendees, Ann and Jerry ended the wedding celebration with a champagne toast and first dance to "You Make Me Feel So Young." As Jerry held his new bride close, the Congressional Chorus serenaded them:

And even when I'm old
and gray
I'm gonna feel the way
I do today
'Cause you make me feel
so young

[me]

Thanks for sharing.   

[Purplelady1040]

Love this!!! 

[libby]

  Glad you liked it.  I thought it was a really sweet story for a Sunday morning when all the news has been so bad.

[Anne]

What a great story, I hope they have those 20 more years.

[libby]

 

What a great story, I hope they have those 20 more years.

I came across this while trying to get rid of some old e-mails and posts:

Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."

William Shakespeare

[Palehorse]

   

I came across this while trying to get rid of some old e-mails and posts:

Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O no, it is an ever fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wand'ring bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken."

William Shakespeare