Gary, 18, and Almeda Hardwick, 71, of Sevierville weren’t looking for love when they saw each other at the funeral of Almeda’s son in June 2015, but that’s exactly what they found with each other months later.
Gary, who’s always been attracted to older women, was still in a troubled relationship with a 77-year-old woman and depressed.
Almeda was mourning her son Robert’s death from complications due to seizures. He was 45.
Love was in their future, however.
Gary and Almeda met again in September 2015. His aunt Lisa Harrell, who was married to Robert, reintroduced him to Almeda after he had ended his other relationship.
“It was like an instant connection. (There was) so much chemistry there. We both loved music,” Gary said while the two sat next to each other on the edges of matching red love seats in their living room.
“I had prayed about my soul mate for like two years, so, you know, I was lonely,” said Almeda. “I had no one, so God sent him to me.”
“When I looked into her eyes I knew it,” he said. “Her eyes were a dead giveaway.”
“His were too … I knew,” she said.
After dating three weeks, they got married on Oct. 26, 2015, inside Harrell’s condo.
Almeda was 70. Gary was 17, and his mother gave her consent. His dad passed away when he was 15.
The wedding date was six days before Gary would turn 18, but he said he couldn’t wait that long to make Almeda his wife.
“I just knew she was the one, and she knew I was the one, and we just knew we were right for each other, so it really didn’t matter,” he said.
As more of their friends and family found out about the marriage, the Hardwicks said they received support.
Credit: usatoday
