People come to the Silver Sneakers classes offered at the Y for all kinds of reasons…to lose weight, to get in shape, to be around another seniors…but for Adele Shaw and Irvin Bullock, it became the place they found their spouse.
Their story began back in November, when Irvin started attending the Silver Sneakers class taught by John Barbour at the South Oakland YMCA. Adele had been going to the class for about two years at that time. They’re a pretty tightly-knit group, so she knew who he was, but they never really talked until one day Irvin asked her to keep an eye on his mother, who he’d brought to class with him, while he took care of some business at the desk, Adele says. She enjoyed talking with his mother and Irvin was very grateful to see she’d been in such good hands.
She recalls, “He said, ‘you’ve been so nice to stay with her for me, I should take you out for a cup of coffee. Can I have your number?’” She gave it to him, and when he called he said he’d thought it over and they really should have lunch. He took her to the Beefcarver restaurant in Royal Oak near the Y, and the sparks of romance began to fly.
“We had so much in common, including our faith,” she says. “We felt so comfortable with each other, and it seems like after that there wasn’t a day we didn’t see each other.”
Adele had been divorced for 20 years, Irvin for 37 and they each had grown children. Neither thought they’d marry again, although Adele says that shortly before she met Irvin, she prayed that she could meet someone of common faith, financial security and good values that she might be happy with, not really expecting that prayer to be answered. But it was.
Irvin invited her to spend Christmas with his family, and they became just as enamored of her as he was. Her son and his family adored Irvin too, as did her daughter when she came in from her home in Washington, DC for the wedding. And his mother, who had brought them together in the first place? She kept suggesting they marry.
They agreed that was a wonderful idea, and decided that when Irvin’s lease was up in August they would marry and he would move into her house in Royal Oak.
“We just sort of bonded,” she says. “We had the same good standards, we both loved mountain biking…we just had so much in common and felt at ease with each other.”
Of course, even the sweetest love story has a few bumps. Theirs came when Adele tripped and broke her foot while she was at a friend’s house making the bouquets for the wedding. That meant they were not able to attend the Silver Sneakers class that brought them together in the first place, but their friends at the Y had some tricks up their sleeves. They lured them back by saying their teacher, John Barbour, was getting a special award. instead, “those guys tricked me!” Adele says with a laugh. Their friends gave them each a shirt that said “Love Blooms at the Y” and hats that said “Bride” and “Groom” and celebrated with a cake.
Even with her broken foot, Adele was able to walk down the aisle Aug. 3 at Irvin’s sister’s house in Farmington Hills. Her daughter served as her maid of honor and her son as her best man, and all four grandchildren were in the wedding as well. Irvin’s longtime best friend from Chicago served as his best man.
The newlyweds are settling in and enjoying planning their lives together, Adele says. “At the old age of 71 and 72 , it just goes to show you’re never too old, and you never know,” Adele says. “When you least expect it, it comes — I sure wasn’t really thinking it was going to happen, it just happened.”