Larry Bushnell and Columba Rosaly are getting married in south Charlotte on Saturday, and it's likely that this union is going to last the rest of their lives.

He's 85; she's 97. But their decision to marry new partners late in life is just one of many unusual things about the couple.

He grew up on a Wisconsin farm. She was raised by a wealthy uncle in Ecuador. Neither speaks the other's language. And it's unclear if he can handle her spicy cooking.

Still, both can't wait to start the next phase of their new lives together.

You can't help but wonder, how did two people who don't speak the same language know it was love ... and that he was proposing ... and that she was accepting?

Spanish instructor Iris Newton of Charlotte has helped the couple find answers in recent weeks. But even she admits finding humor in their predicament, which began when the widow and widower met at east Charlotte's Sharon Village retirement community.

"I got a call from Columba four months ago," recalls Newton, "and she said 'I need you. I have a boyfriend, and he does not speak Spanish.' And I said: 'If he doesn't speak Spanish, how do you know you're dating?' "

The answer was both simple and old-fashioned.

"He kissed her on the cheek one day," Newton says.

Rosaly remembers she blushed and all the other women at the lunch table giggled like schoolgirls.

Everything about their courtship has been similarly old-fashioned, including Bushnell's idea for overcoming the language barrier. He passed notes to her in the lunch room, after using a Website to translate his questions into Spanish.

From those, Rosaly learned that Bushnell thought she was beautiful, and loved the way she never left her apartment without every detail being in place, from her brown curls to her earrings.

She thought he was tall and handsome, loved the way he was always kissing her hand, and appreciated that he put on her seat belt every time they went for a ride.

"I've never felt so happy," she says, with Newton translating. "I love to eat his nose with kisses."

This second chance at love has prompted them to start taking lessons to learn each other's language.

Rosaly believes God brought them together so they could love and care for each other in their final days.

Both expected they'd never marry again. Bushnell, a former schoolteacher, says his second wife of 13 years died more than a year ago, and he was still grieving when he met Rosaly. Her husband died over a decade ago.

Newton volunteered to arrange their wedding, including food, a photographer and someone to officiate. She says their love story feels familiar, because her parents couldn't easily communicate when they married. Her father was a cop in Chicago and her mother was a tourist from Colombia, who stopped to ask him for directions.

When they married, the only words she knew in English were "I love you," "help," and "money," Newton says laughing. Their marriage lasted 53 years, until her father died in 2009, she adds.

"Love is universal," Newton says. "If you like someone, it doesn't matter if you speak the same language." Linda Wheby will officiate the ceremony at the City Tavern in Ballantyne and she, too, sees something inspirational in their marriage.

"I couldn't stop smiling the first time I heard their story," says Wheby, who performs weddings on the side. "Here is this older couple, who found each other and found love, and they want to spend their remaining days together and they want to do it legally. They're enjoying every minute of their life."

So at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Wheby plans to perform a 15-minute ceremony for 30 of their friends. Rosaly has picked out a rose colored-dress with an embroidered top and Bushnell will wear a blue suit.

They'll marry, eat lunch and pose for photos.

Then the couple will go back to a new apartment they'll share at the same retirement community.

Rosaly expects a honeymoon, noting her last husband took her to Hawaii.

Bushnell hasn't nailed that down yet, but he figures they have the rest of their lives to work on it.

STARTING OVER

This story launches a new weekly series, "Starting Over." Every Monday for the next few months, we'll chronicle people as they move on to a new chapter in their lives.

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