True Love

Ben Bryant, 81, lives on the Upper West Side with his wife of almost 50 years, Elizabeth, who's just a few years younger. They met in August 1967 when Ben was the lead in the musical Carousel and Elizabeth (known as Betsey back then) was in a supporting role. During a rehearsal, Ben spotted Betsey. "It was as though there was a pin spotlight on her and all the others in the room faded from view." He asked her to lunch. With some reluctance, she accepted they went to the snack bar across from the theater. Ben calls it a "profound inner knowing." He said, "I knew she was the one." Later that day, on Ben's way to the laundromat, he asked Betsey to join him. Under the glamorous fluorescent lighting, they had their first date. Ben says their relationship felt natural from then on...three months later they married.