Never too late for a wedding

Richard Rosenberg and Lillian Wulfe enjoyed happy and productive lives, he as an insurance salesman and she as a statistician. Both widowed, they never expected to give marriage another try. But three years ago, a flirtation developed into regular dating, until they were nearly inseparable. Rosenberg, who is 85, and Wulfe, who is 92, fell in love.

"We are pretty well certain that we will never reach a silver wedding anniversary, but we decided that we can celebrate every wedding anniversary," Rosenberg said.

Before close family and friends last night, the couple was married in the chapel of the Orchard Cove retirement community in Canton, where they both live. They spent the morning as they often do, attending meals together in the community dining room before preparing for the big event. Although they will not go on a honeymoon, they have moved into shared quarters.

"We thought it was just the proper thing to do," Rosenberg said of marriage.

Rosenberg and Wulfe took separate paths to Orchard Cove. Wulfe moved to Massachusetts several years ago from New York City, where she raised two children. She says her sons, who moved to Massachusetts, tired of making the four-hour trip for visits and found her a comfortable room at Orchard Cove.

Rosenberg grew up in the Boston area and moved to Orchard Cove shortly after his wife passed away and he needed more intensive care.

Both Rosenberg and Wulfe are hard of hearing. She uses a walker to get around, while he recently began using a wheelchair because of inner ear problems that affect his balance.

About three years ago, Wulfe noticed that Rosenberg followed sports coverage in newspapers.

"I started to take out the sports section and give it to him everyday," she said.

Her flirtation prompted Rosenberg to invite her to the center's daily activities. Between meals, they spent increasingly more time together debating the strength of their favorite sports teams.

"I think the fact that she was from New York attracted me," Rosenberg said.

"I had to teach her some of the local sports activities, primarily the Red Sox. She used to root for the Yankees."

Soon, Wulfe told Rosenberg that she was in love.

"Everyone was telling me that he certainly cares about me, that his face lights up when he sees me," Wulfe said. "I look for that smile all the time."

"I guess I proposed," said Rosenberg. "But she had to tell me she was ready."

Initially, Wulfe was hesitant. She had already been happily married twice, and she heard a rumor that she would lose Social Security payments from her deceased husbands if she remarried. Wulfe said one of her sons advised her to remain single.

" 'I should live in sin?' " Wulfe recalled telling him.

Three weeks ago, Wulfe learned that she was mistaken about Social Security. "Then we might as well get married and be legal and honest," she said. "Besides, we love each other."

The bride wore a brown velvet dress with a jacket that shimmered with maroon sparkles. She didn't see her wedding ring until the ceremony. Now their twin hospital beds rest side by side.

Their marriage, said Janis Cherry, Rosenberg's niece, "tells me that however old we are in our hearts, there's still a schoolboy and a schoolgirl living there, that we can fall in love."

April Simpson can be reached at asimpson@globe.com.