This Couple's Engagement Photos Will Make You Believe It's Never Too Late to Fall in Love
Cleveland T. Wilson, lovingly known as Murphy, and Lucinda Myers are the Internet’s most viral couple – and they don’t even know what viral means.
The 70-year-old man and his 67-year-old fiancé have recently become adored by audiences after their engagement photos went viral on Instagram. Their whirlwind romance is fit for a couple of 17-year-olds (which Wilson says he feels like), and when speaking exclusively with Yahoo Style, they certainly sounded young and in love.
Both living in Huntsville, Alabama, Wilson and Myers were attending the same church, where they began to take notice of each other. And although Wilson wasn’t keen on making a move, he grabbed the attention of Myers when he gave her a compliment one Sunday.
“When he told me I looked really nice that morning, I said, ‘Oh, okay.’ It was a shock but it kind of opened the door for me to know that he was interested,” she says.
Wilson was absent from church the following few weeks, which garnered more interest from Myers. When he finally returned, she gained the courage to ask him where his beautiful smile had been, which was met with a more than friendly hug back. That morning they’ll remember as the moment that God meant for them to connect, and from there, the fellow church members moved toward becoming a couple.
“My sister had invited Lucinda and her friend Nancy to come over, which gave me more opportunity to talk to her some more,” Wilson says. “And we did. I had a chance to take her home, and we talked some more and I got her phone number and what not. And it’s just been one whirlwind courtship after.”
The official start of their relationship is marked as April of this year, which was quickly followed by their engagement just a month later. And with the wedding date set as July 29, it’s evident that the couple is ready to start their lives together.
“It’s been very easy, very natural. It’s like we’ve known each other for a long time, even though we haven’t. And you know, when you get to this age, you don’t need a long time to recognize what’s in front of you,” Wilson explains.
His past relationship wasn’t much different. A 5-month courtship turned into a 41-year marriage with his first wife, Antoinette. But once she passed away, Wilson wasn’t sure that he’d find somebody that he loved quite like her.
“I just didn’t think it was possible to love that deeply again,” he says. “I didn’t think it was gonna happen twice. I was dead wrong. This woman is everything that I need at this point and time in my life, and I’m grateful to God for putting us together.”
Both Wilson and Myers keep strong in their faith in God, which is why they credit their relationship to years of prayer. For Myers, who has been single since her first marriage ended 30 years ago, she says she didn’t mind leaving it up to the Lord to find love again, even though it took this long.
“I just prayed and asked the Lord to send me who he wanted me to have. And it took him this long to do that, and that was fine with me. It happened to be just a few months ago, and I’m so happy,” she says.
The excitement of the couple is tangible, even through the phone, where they sound comfortably seated next to each other, completing one another’s thoughts. They’ll be the first to admit that they are great for each other, and when they finally let others at the church know that they were together, they all agreed.
“To be honest, it all started the first night we walked into prayer meeting holding hands,” Wilson says. “And the church ain’t been the same since.”
“They tell us a lot that we look good together,” Myers continues, “and we just seem to click together.”
But she’s quickly interrupted by Wilson, “No we don’t seem to click, we do click.”
The engagement photos all over social media are the doing of Wilson’s daughters, who he says have become the wedding planners for the older couple. Their photographer Gianna Snell took them into a park for the session, where she assumed they would be shy to hold hands, kiss and throw up a sign reading, “She Said YES!!!” But the couple reassures that the excitement on their faces is as natural as can be.
#KeepBelievingInLove ??? #rp @aftertheaisle
A post shared by niecynash1 (@niecynash1) on Jun 26, 2017 at 6:03am PDT
Now, with recognition from the likes of Niecy Nash, the couple has become a beloved part of Instagram. However, it’s up to the daughters to figure out if Wilson and Myers’ posts on social media will continue.
“They were telling us, ‘You know it went viral?’ And both of us were like, ‘Viral? What’s that?'” Wilson says. “We’re having a blast, and I will say there’s a lot of people that have said to Lucinda that we’re kind of like a beacon of hope and inspiration for people who are waiting. We are proof that in spite of anything, even if you’re talking about losing a spouse, you just got to be faithful and the Lord will take care of you.”
A post shared by Murphy & Lucinda (@never2latecouple) on Jun 30, 2017 at 6:50am PDT
As for their immediate future, July 29 cannot come soon enough for the couple.
“We hope that someone is blessed and inspired,” Wilson says, “but we’re planning to just be in love.”
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