Family and friends gathered at the Holy Family Roman Catholic Church in Hicksville on Thursday, Feb. 14, Valentine's Day, to celebrate the wedding of Rose Stelmack, 92 of Hicksville and Keith Hubbard, 74 of Seaford.

The couple met a little over a year ago during a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Stelmack's niece, Jackie Varriale, in Bethpage. "My niece invited me for dinner and I accepted," Stelmack, a resident of Hicksville for the 30 years, said. "A couple of days later she mentioned that she had invited a man who comes to the bank she works at. She asked him where he was having Thanksgiving dinner and when he said he would be alone, she impulsively invited him to dinner."

A widow for 14 years, Stelmack said she wasn't looking for a relationship, let alone a marriage, when she arrived at her niece's home. "That wasn't on the agenda," she said. "I had no interest in finding male companionship, but I went to the dinner and the rest is really history."

Hubbard, a widower, said that he wasn't looking to get married again either, but that all changed the minute he arrived for dinner. "I walked into that Thanksgiving party and saw Rose sitting on the step," he said. "All that went through my head was 'where has this women been all my life?' I thought I'd never fall in love again."

Hubbard said that he and Stelmack dated for a little over a year before he asked her to marry him. "I asked her once before and she turned me down, but I wouldn't give up," he said. "When you love someone, age don't mean a darn thing."

A former resident of Fort Worth, TX, Mr. Hubbard does not have children from his first marriage. Ms. Stelmack, however, has five children, three sons and two daughters, 18 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. In marrying Ms. Stelmack, Mr. Hubbard said he is not only gaining a wife, but also a family. "Rose's family has been wonderful," he said. "They took me in with open arms. It feels good to say that I have a family now."

Members of Ms. Stelmack's family said they couldn't be happier for the couple. "It's good to see that love can continue to ignite at such a tender age," said the bride's son, Dr. Bruce Stelmack of Roanoke, VA. "She has always been a romantic woman. I couldn't be happier for her."

The couple plans to move into Ms. Stelmack's Hicksville home immediately following the wedding. They also plan on taking a honeymoon, but have not yet decided where they will go.