Florida couple proves it's never too late to find love -- no matter...

Florida couple proves it's never too late to find love  --  no matter...
Source: New York Post

True love never gets old -- especially for 102-year-old WWII vet Harold Terens and his 98-year-old bride, Jeanne Swerlin.

The lovebirds, who tied the knot in 2024 and still gush that they feel like teenagers together, had some Valentine's Day advice for the lovelorn.

"Never give up."
"It's never too late to find love, especially a great love -- look at us," Swerlin, a New York native who lives in Florida, told The Post. "You have to be open -- love will find you."

Terens is among the last of the Greatest Generation, surviving a series of harrowing series of close calls during the war. After enlisting in 1942, he served as a radio repair technician in Great Britain attached to a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron.

He went on to repair planes on D-Day, returning from France to survive a secret mission that led to a robbery that left him naked in the desert of Tehran and fearing death until he was miraculously rescued by an American military police patrol.

The native New Yorker -- who lost his first wife of 70 years in 2018 -- declared he's grateful "for every day I'm alive," and swore he never looked at another woman until he met Swerlin.

The two were set up on a blind date in 2021 and the nonagenarian became instantly smitten.

"It's the greatest love I've ever known, by far," said a vibrant Terens, who's written a book, "Tomorrow Will be the Best Day of my Life."

Life was "beyond remarkable," even before Terens met his plucky bride.

"My whole life changed. It went in a totally different direction," he said, adding in French, "I regret nothing."
"All the adjectives in the world can't describe how I feel about her."

The feeling is mutual.

"He always tells me, 'I don't know how I ever lived without you,'" said the youthful-looking bride.

The canoodling couple, who say they can't keep their hands off each other, recalled their magical wedding day.

The extraordinary couple said they've never experienced so powerful a connection.

"The day of our wedding is the greatest day I've ever experienced in 102 years of life," Terens said of his June 2024 Normandy beach-area wedding that had thousands of well-wishers cheering them on.

Terens, who plans to be bar mitzvahed this year, said finding life-changing love is about sticking to the basics.

"Remember why you fell in love with a person, and don't try to change them," said Terens, who still drives and meditates daily.

Yet there's another secret ingredient to their passionate romance:

"The best secret about a successful love affair and marriage is that we don't live together," quipped Terens, who maintains a home 30 minutes from his his sweetheart in south Florida, where they see each other about four days a week. "We live happily ever after."

As for Valentine's Day, he surprised his wife with two dozen pink roses with a love letter attached.

"Every day is Valentine's Day," said Terens, who plans to make his sixth visit to Normandy to mark the 87th D-Day anniversary in June.