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Widow and Widower Celebrate New Love with Joyful Pool Wedding

An 83-year-old widower and a 78-year-old widow found a second chance at love during water aerobics classes and celebrated by exchanging vows in the same Illinois pool where their romance began.

A couple who found love after loss celebrated their union with a wedding as unique as their story. Marlene Parsons, 78, and Edward La Rue Sr., 83, were married on November 12 in the shallow end of a community pool in Maryville, Illinois, the very spot where they met during water aerobics classes three years prior.

Both had lost their longtime spouses—Parsons in 2020 and La Rue in 2019—and had no initial plans to remarry. Their connection began playfully, with La Rue splashing fellow class members and Parsons splashing him back. A friendship grew, leading to their first date in December 2023.

“We just seem to be a good fit,” Parsons told *The Washington Post*. “It was like it was meant to be.”

The wedding ceremony was a lighthearted, aquatic affair. The bride wore a tutu over her swimsuit; the groom wore black swim trunks. Guests sported corsages on their swimwear or ties over bare chests. The officiant was the YMCA's senior aquatics director, Alie Morgan, who had jokingly suggested the poolside venue months earlier.

The couple said their vows and exchanged rings in the lukewarm water, surrounded by family and friends, before cutting a cake and finalizing their marriage certificate.

The celebration honored a journey of healing and unexpected joy. “We just don’t take life seriously,” Parsons said. “I mean, life’s too short.”
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