IT’S never too late for love. And the proof is in the eyes of a Rosebud couple who are planning to tie the knot at Sorrento this month.
Shirley Ulmer and Michael Metherell – both well into their 80s – will say “I do” at the Sorrento Historic Gardens rotunda on Saturday 23 June.
The path to love for this active couple came through the U3A Southern Peninsula’s Happy Wanderers group.
“We are in the U3A walking group and I’m a fast walker and didn’t usually see Mike,” Ms Ulmer said.
“On the day we met, Mike was leading the group and it’s the custom for the leader to be out front. I found myself walking alongside him. It just happened.
“We struck up a conversation and afterwards had a coffee at Red Hill South near the school.
“He asked me to the movies and we got to know each other and began a friendship. We discovered we had lots in common.”
In July 2016, when Ms Ulmer and friends went to Spain to walk the 800 kilometre Camino de Santiago trail over 42 days she realised she missed Michael – and he missed her. On her return they decided to do their walking together from then on.
Last year they walked 300km across England from the Irish Sea to the North Sea in 17 days.
“We spent five weeks together overall and really enjoyed each other’s company – although we got lost a few times,” she said.
This year they plan to walk the Cornish coast.
Mr Metherell, a former architect who moved to Rosebud 10 years ago, said the group exercise was “just what I needed; it’s nice being fit”.
And the upcoming wedding for the couple who have been married before?: “This is different and exciting,” Ms Ulmer said.
First published in the Southern Peninsula News – 5 June 2018
Correction – 12 June 2018
SHIRLEY Ulmer and Michael Metherell, the happy couple getting ready to walk down the aisle, are aged in their 70s – not their 80s as reported.
