In March 2025, we met via a mutual yet distant Facebook friend. Kari saw Anne’s funny meme and wanted to see more. She accused him of being a serial killer that preyed on women! That joke fed online and phone talks. Grieving her husband’s killing, Anne learned Kari lost his spouse tragically also. Kari was ecstatic Anne was a PhD geneticist, a science area he follows. Our life experiences made the timing right. He finally found someone to talk science with and we both found a second soulmate! 

After Anne visited Oregon twice, we soon realized that we were perfect for each other! At our ages (she’’s 73, he’s 61), we felt we had no time to waste and married in December 2025. Icelander Kari retired and moved to California. Nature lovers, we made our first big hiking trip in February to Yosemite NP. We had the park to ourselves as it was Super Bowl weekend. Amazing sunny weather made us feel our new life together was charmed. We now do yoga daily and hike weekly for our mutual health.

In our pre-nuptial talks, our agreed upon wish for our remaining years on the planet is simply to be loved and happy and enjoy our lives together. Both retired life-long learners, for us that means traveling, taking college classes, attending music concerts, and camping, hiking, and kayaking. We also plan to be even more politically active. Our charities include nature conservation and national parks, so we want to buy a small camper with this money and get started traveling to meet our goals.