AHWATUKEE, AZ — Two Valley seniors were able to find a second chance at love in an unlikely place.
Some may call it the honeymoon stage, but the love between Paulett and Jim Domschke is so new that Paulett looked to her hubby Jim to remember how to spell her new last name.
“I haven’t been rehearsing it,” she said while they both laughed.
Paulett, 69, and Jim, 77, are proof you can find a second one true love.
Years ago, Jim and Paulett started coming to the Pecos Senior Center in the Ahwatukee Foothills.
Both of them lost their spouses, whom they had been with for nearly 50 years.
“I cried all the time, it was terrible. Until, I called him, and he got me on the right path,” said Paulett.
Both say the shared grief played a role in their compatibility.
Jim says dating apps like Silver Singles didn’t work out.
“Even though I was seeing other people, I would still bounce back to, Paulett, ‘Let's go have lunch,’” he said.
A friendship around the card table turned into dates at Red Lobster and eventually conversations about getting married.
When they went ring shopping, Jim couldn’t wait a moment longer.
“I almost broke down into tears, I knelt down and proposed to her in the store,” he said.
A wedding at the courthouse back in November led to breaking breadsticks with a new family at the Olive Garden.
Both say their late spouses would be happy they found someone.
"My job is to help Paulett be the best Paulett she can be. And hopefully, she’ll do the same to me, as a result of our relationship,” he said.
For more on the City of Phoenix senior centers, click here.
