Harris Wofford: 90-year-old former senator to marry man 20 years after his wife’s death
Harris Wofford, 90, will marry 40-year-old Matthew Charlton on 30 April
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Your support makes all the difference.A former Pennsylvania senator is about to marry a man 50 years his junior, and more than two decades after his wife’s death.
Harris Wofford, a former member of the US Senate from 1991 to 1995, was married to lawmaker Clare Wofford for 48 years until she died when he was 70 years old.
In his column for the New York Times, he explained that five years later, he met Matthew Charlton, 25, on a beach. Mr Wofford was 75 years old.
“As we talked, I was struck by Matthew's inquisitive and thoughtful manner and his charm. I knew he was somebody I would enjoy getting to know. We were decades apart in age with far different professional interests, yet we clicked,” he said.
They travelled around Europe together as close friends before becoming a couple.
“We both felt the immediate spark, and as time went on, we realized that our bond had grown into love. Other than with Clare, I had never felt love blossom this way before.”
Mr Wofford, a Democrat who was special assistant for civil rights to president John F Kennedy and special adviser to Martin Luther King Jr, said it took three years to tell his three children about their relationship. They eventually welcomed Mr Charlton as a member of the family, and Mr Wofford said he was “accepted warmly" by Mr Charlton’s parents.
“To some, our bond is entirely natural, to others it comes as a strange surprise, but most soon see the strength of our feelings and our devotion to each other. We have now been together for 15 years,” he wrote.
“Too often, our society seeks to label people by pinning them on the wall — straight, gay or in between. I don’t categorize myself based on the gender of those I love. I had a half-century of marriage with a wonderful woman, and now am lucky for a second time to have found happiness.”
“Twice in my life, I’ve felt the pull of such passionate preference,” he added. “At age 90, I am lucky to be in an era where the Supreme Court has strengthened what President Obama calls “the dignity of marriage” by recognizing that matrimony is not based on anyone’s sexual nature, choices or dreams. It is based on love.”
Mr Wofford and Mr Charlton are set to marry on 30 April.
After serving four years in the Senate, he was narrowly defeated to return for a second term by Republican Rick Santorum.
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