When Alison’s husband died in 2010, she wrote to one of his oldest friends to let him know. Although she had never met Michael she knew he had been a close friend of her partner and, sure enough, he immediately wrote back. As well as reminiscing about her husband, Alison and Michael – now 83 and 92 – opened up about their own lives, too. “We shared our history and I learned that Mike played the violin and flute,” says Alison. “At Christmas he told me he was dancing round the kitchen to Bach with my letter in his hands.”
“Alison’s letters were something to look forward to,” says Michael, who at the time was living in Sheffield and caring for his wife, who had dementia. “I was very busy and only used to take two hours a week for myself. She was so nice and we had a lot in common. We soon discovered we had the same values and politics.”
At the start of 2013, Michael’s wife died. He and Alison continued to write to each other, and their friendship grew stronger. “He started sharing these lovely poems with me,” says Alison. “I used to be a teacher, so I knew they were very good.”
Months later, Alison invited him to her home in Hull for dinner. “At first we were reluctant to meet because the letters were so important to us,” says Alison. “It felt like a risk and we might not like each other in person.” She had heart problems, and was afraid this might put him off. “I was taking medication that had made me put on weight. I wasn’t sure if he’d like me.”
They needn’t have worried. As soon as Michael arrived at her home, there was a spark between them. “Suddenly I knew he was looking at me in a romantic way,” she says. “I was terribly nervous and chattered non-stop.”
Despite the attraction, they took things slowly to start with. “I really liked her, but we’d both been through marriages and thought that would be the end. I think we were a bit reluctant to admit there was something there,” he says.
Michael visited again a few weeks later, and before long they made the decision to start a relationship.
A few months later, Alison’s health began to recover. “My GP said that Michael should work for the NHS,” she says with a laugh. “My heart muscles strengthened and I was discharged from cardiology. I attribute it to my happiness. We were both so happy we would walk around with these huge grins. People think older people can’t fall in love, but we definitely can.”
In 2014, Michael moved to be with her in Hull; they married in a nearby village two years later. “We had 60 guests and Mike’s sister even came from Indiana. It was lovely,” says Alison.
As well as enjoying crossword puzzles, they recently bought a game of table tennis, which they love playing together. “We also belong to a Shakespeare group, where we talk about the plays we’ve read, and we go out walking in the Peak District now that Alison’s health problems are behind her,” says Michael. Between them they have four children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and enjoy spending time with family.
Michael says life is “wonderful” with Alison around. “I think it’s the similarities that we have that keeps the relationship strong,” he says. “We both have the same interests in music, literature and socialism. She makes me laugh and we’ve never fallen out about anything. If anything ever crops up we work around it.”
Alison loves her partner’s kindness. “He’s perfect for me. He’s very intelligent too. He does crosswords and sudoku while I am learning Spanish. He supports me in everything I do,” she says. “We are still struck by the wonder of our romance. We wear hearing aids; I have got new knees and new hips. But we make up for our physical difficulties with the mind and the heart.”
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