Pat and Horst find love in their 80s

Pat and Horst regularly stroll past a tree in Beacon Hill Park that is covered in countless couples' initials.

"I've never done that to any tree," Horst says. "Poor tree."

Although they are not joining "I.P. + P.P" or "D.H. + G.J.", the seniors recall when their love was just beginning. 

"She was very young," he starts to say, before she interrupts. "Young?!" 

Horst admits Pat is almost two years older, "But she is springy," he smiles. "She dances the Irish reel!" Pat responds with a laugh and starts humming the traditional music. 

Horst says they first spoke in a café. He was with friends, Pat walked in alone. He felt compelled to invite her to join them. "It must have been some hormonal play!" he laughs. "It just happens. It comes up in you!"

Horst says he didn't know her name. But that's not why he didn't carve their initials in the tree. Instead of knife to bark, Pat inspired him to put pen to paper. 

"I wrote her a haiku!" he says. 

"How could I resist?" she says with a smile.

This is what he wrote: 

I feel a soulmate
Awakened my sleeping heart
We'll touch each other

He says it was the first of quite a few haikus. "Hormones are flowing," he smiles. "Poetry is blooming!"

At this point you should know, this couple has not been talking about their oh-so-long ago. Horst, 84, and Pat, 86, just met – and just started dating – a couple years ago. 

"I wasn't looking for it at all," Pat says. "It just happened and it's wonderful."

Both Pat and Horst say they were happy being single – just happier being together. And they feel happiest that their partnership is based not on wanting or expecting but just being loving in every moment together.

"I think love is the saviour of the world," Pat says. 

That's why they hope all the couples who carved their initials on the tree are soulmates too. "I hope their love is growing with the tree," Horst says.

And for those of you who prefer carving initials over penning poetry, you should know that long before Horst H. ever met his Pat K., he was issued a licence plate with their initials on it.