Sarasota couple recounts their 60-year love story after blind date goes wrong
SARASOTA, Fla. - If you're looking for love these days, online dating is the most popular way to meet your match, according to the wedding website "The Knot." About three in 10 couples surveyed reported meeting their spouse online.
There was no internet 60 years ago and blind dates were quite common. In one Sarasota couple’s case, a blind date gone wrong was just the start of their happily ever after.
Mary Margot, 86, or Maggie, met Paul Bonarosa, 90, at a dance six decades ago.
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Bonarosa's buddies took him to a nurses' dance at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania 60 years ago.
"They had me fixed up with another woman, and I’m glad they did, because this one is surely, I’ve been blessed with her," he said.
The matchmaking didn't work with the other woman, but it was at that dance that he first laid eyes on Maggie.
"I asked her to dance, because the one they had set me up with, what happened to her, I’ve forgotten?" Bonarosa asked his wife Maggie.
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She replied through laughter, "Don’t know, don’t remember, don’t care."
The Bonarosa’s have been dancing now for 64 years.
"We have three daughters, one is 63, one is 62. We were Catholic," laughed Maggie.
It’s that sense of humor that carried them through some tough times.
"We just take each year as it comes. It’s had its ups and downs, it’s had its illnesses," she said.
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They shared their best advice for a successful marriage.
"Always say you’re sorry, always apologize," Maggie said. "Even if it’s not your fault, and that’s tough when it’s not your fault, and you say you’re sorry that takes a big person."
It’s worked for them for six decades, and they plan to keep at it for as long as they can.
"As long as God lets us here, we're not giving up now, so it’s up to God," smiled Maggie.
The Bonarosa's moved to Sarasota to be closer to their kids and grandkids.
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