Widow and widower in their 80s find second chance at love right across the street

YUBA CITY, Calif. (KMAX/KOVR) - For two widowed neighbors in California, a simple walk down the street led to something neither of them expected: a second chance at love.

Margaret Strain, 88, and Bob Peralta, 85, have lived across the street from each other for a few years now. Both lost their spouses, and neither expected to find love again.

Then, Peralta started taking almost daily walks, hoping to catch a glimpse of his neighbor.

“Well, he has a walker, and he walks up and down the road,” Strain said. “Then, one day, I said, ‘Are you trying to wear out that road?’ He says, ‘I want to make it smooth.’”

She invited him inside for coffee.

“He says, ‘I don’t drink coffee. I drink tea.’ So, I said, ‘We’ll have tea.’ And so, it just took off from there,” Strain said.

“I knew there was something missing, but I couldn’t find out what it was until I met her,” Peralta said.

Peralta’s health was in bad shape. He had multiple doctor’s visits a week, kidney failure and was staying in bed.

“He wasn’t a candidate for surgery because he wasn’t healthy enough,” said his daughter, Lizzie Northrup-Daddow. “He meets Miss Margaret, [and] all of his numbers are normal now.”

Northrup-Daddow says it’s been amazing watching her father fall out of loneliness and into love. The couple’s new teenage-like romance has even become the talk of the neighborhood.

“Our other neighbor drove by real slow one day, and she says, ‘Is Bob dating Miss Margaret?’ I said, ‘What? Why would you say that?’ She goes, ‘We caught them kissing behind our oleander bush,’” she said.

Relationships like Strain and Peralta’s are something the Blue Zones Project Yuba-Sutter has been working to build into the community for the past few years.

“They are the proof in the pudding how connection can quite literally bring you back to life,” said Blue Zones engagement lead Alexandria Jones.

Modeled after regions of the world where people regularly live past 100 known as “blue zones,” Jones says these communities show the key to well-being isn’t just diet and exercise.

“We know from the blue zones research that individuals who are truly lonely can have the same impact on your health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day,” she said.

These days, Strain and Peralta give each other a reason to get up and get moving every morning, making trips between their houses and spending quality time with one another. Their message is simple: keep showing up, keep moving and keep your heart open because sometimes, the person who changes your life is right across the street.

“Don’t just sit around and do nothing. Have a good time. You might meet somebody, you might not; but just don’t sit in your house and wither away,” Strain said.

You can find out more about the Blue Zones Project on the organization’s website.