Senior Couple Ties Knot At San Juan Capistrano Living Community

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Two San Juan Capistrano residents are proving that love has no age limit. Roberta Waitman, 78, and Patrick Jackson, 85, are getting married at Reata Glen senior living community in San Juan Capistrano — the same spot they met three years ago.

"At our age, there's no thunderbolt that you expect to feel when you're younger," Waitman said in a statement. "In my world, the pieces just fit together so easily."

The couple met in 2019 after being introduced to one another through mutual friends during lunch at the living community. Waitman was a widow, and at the time, Jackson had recently lost his own partner, she said in a statement.

The pair drifted closer and closer to one another until a year of dating had passed, and the couple got engaged in December. Waitman said Jackson is the most romantic man she's ever met, and that she is regularly gifted with flowers.

Jackson said Waitman's greatest quality is her honesty.

The wedding is set to take place in the outside gazebo at Reata Glen senior living community May 21, a spokesperson for Reata Glen told Patch. The gazebo will be decorated with ribbon and fuschia flowers, and the couple's pet dog will serve as the ring bearer. A member of community is set to officiate the wedding.

"I have more friends at Reata Glen than I've ever had before," Waitman said. "What better atmosphere than right here to have our wedding."