‘80, to us, is just a number’: Huntington Beach couple ties the knot
Love found a way for Bob and Nancy Chesney of Huntington Beach.
“Getting older isn’t always so bad,” Nancy said, smiling at her new husband sitting to her right. “You don’t have to sit in a rocking chair just because you’re 80. I don’t even own one. Eighty, to us, is just a number.”
Bob, 80, and Nancy, 81, refused to let age and COVID-19 be obstacles. The Huntington Beach residents got married Saturday night at Nancy’s townhouse in Surf City.
About 40 guests came to the wedding, while 40 more watched via Zoom. Face masks and hand sanitizer, as well as social distancing, were the order of the day.
“We made it very clear,” said Bob Chesney, who still works as a video producer. “If you want to come, you’re welcome. If you don’t, watch it on Zoom.”
None of the precautions seemed to matter, however, when Nancy came down the stairs in her wedding dress to the music of “I Can’t Stop Falling In Love With You,” performed by Andrea Bocelli.
Nancy, formerly known as Nancy Van der Plas, joked that she robbed the cradle by marrying Bob. Each had each been married twice before. They met at Shepherd’s Grove Presbyterian Church in Irvine in February 2018 and gradually got to know each other.
For close to a year, they would sit close to each other in church but not communicate. Bob would sit with his sister, Regina, and Nancy wasn’t sure if that was his wife. Either way, he didn’t make a move.
“At our age, you kind of want to pack it in,” Bob said. “I did, anyway … It’s the old song, ‘A man chases a woman until she catches him.’ She sure did. Lucky me.”
Nancy and her church friend, Linda Carl, finally found out that Bob was, in fact, single.
“One day, we got together after church, and we looked on Facebook to see if we could find out some information about him,” Carl said. “That was kind of funny, because neither Nancy nor I are really versed in technology. We saw a picture of him and Regina on Facebook, and we saw that it was his sister.”
Another friend of Nancy’s, Susan Dawson, introduced the two of them one day after church.
Bob and Nancy quickly hit it off. Despite their age, both liked to go out on the town and attend concerts and performances. Together they run Nancy’s Cabaret, a four-person review that performs Broadway classics.
“We have so many common interests, music, theater,” Bob said. “It really became fun. The big breakthrough was that I found out she’s a big Andre Rieu fan, as I am.”
Bob invited her to see the Dutch violinist and composer in Philadelphia that September. Last year, he gave her a ring.
A formal engagement happened this year, and the couple decided on June 6 for a date. They decided to keep it, despite any coronavirus concerns and despite any extra efforts needed in planning. They got their marriage license in the parking lot of the Honda Center because the courts were closed.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Orange County has now risen to 7,614 with 3,372 of those cases recovered to date.
They also had to cancel their honeymoon in Europe.
“Everything along the way was a challenge — the rings, the dress, the planning,” Nancy said. “Everything was closed. We had to be creative along the way.”
Nancy, who works as an event consultant and coordinator, was up to the challenge.
When the big day came Saturday, she got the surprise of her son Kevin, who recently turned 50, attending the wedding. Kevin has a health issue unrelated to the coronavirus, she said.
Nancy said her twin granddaughters helped guide the ceremony, which went off without any major hitch.
“One of our guests was leaving, and she said, ‘Name your first daughter after me,’” Bob said. “I thought that was great.”
The newlyweds are able to joke about their age. They watch their diet and they both enjoy walking, though Bob joked that exercise fascinates him and he “could watch it for hours.”
“In age, we’re 80,” Nancy said, before pointing at her head. “In here, we don’t feel that way. It’s not like we’re trying to be younger. It’s just how we think.
“We love life, and we love each other. There’s so much for us to do, and we plan to do it.”
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