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Love Gets Second Chance For Couple Who Marry Late In Life

CALEB CALHOUN
The Herald-Mail

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- Alice LaNeve-Hill and Norman Hill of Hagerstown met at a line-dancing class at the Senior Center at Western Maryland Hospital in 2013.  On Feb. 22, the couple got married.

According to both of them, when they were introduced, Norman Hill, 80, said: "I heard you are one fantastic lady."

Alice LaNeve-Hill, 78, has six children with her late ex-husband, Jim LaNeve, whom she divorced in 1991 and who passed away in 2003.

She said she never thought she would remarry.

"I was very content with my life because I had a lot of activities going on," she said. "I was thrilled with the Senior Center here, and had a lot of friends in Virginia, as well as some new friends here. So, I made it clear to others that I had no intent to remarry, but then Norman came onto the scene."

On the other hand, Hill, who has five children and whose wife, Mary Alice, passed away in 2005, said he knew he would find another special person in his life.

"How blessed can you be to be married to a saint for 50 years, and then the Good Lord finds another angel for you at 80 years old?" he said.

LaNeve-Hill said one of her friends set up the meeting with Norman in the dancing class.

"I hadn't paid any attention because I was learning the steps and all, but she took me to meet him," she said.

A little bit later, the couple crossed paths in the social room while she was working as a greeter, and he was on his way to play cards.

At that point, Hill said he knew she was the one for him.

"It's unreal," he said. "I just knew."

Eventually, they went ballroom dancing together to music from the 1950s and 1960s.

"We got out there and did the foxtrot, did the waltz, did a little jitterbug like we'd done it for 20 years, just like ABC," he said.

They went on their first official date after winning tickets to see "Noah" on March 14, 2014.

Although Hill described it as the "worst movie" he ever saw, there was a silver lining to it.

"She didn't even want popcorn," he said. "That's the cheapest date I've ever been on."

Hill proposed in December, when he took her to a jewelry store in Pennsylvania and got down on both knees. Afterward, they went to three other jewelry stores, and he let her pick out a ring.

The couple agreed that their marriage was "all-natural," noting that at their age they did not need to get married or feel any pressure.

"We can talk about anything to each other, and we're best friends," LaNeve-Hill said. "That's what's important to me."

A reception is scheduled for April 18 with the family.
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Information from: The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown, Md., http://www.herald-mail.com

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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