Janice Matamoros and Rayburn Ewers, who goes by Otto, both prayed a lot before moving to the Belmont Village Senior Living community in Lakeway, Texas in 2019. Though both their prayers were answered, hers came with a slight twist.
As she left her home in McKinney, Texas, for the retirement community, Ms. Matamoros, 89, had prayed for a friend who shared her interest in the Bible. “I prayed so hard that God would send a lady to Belmont to be my prayer partner,” she said.
Mr. Ewers, 82, who moved there from Kingsville, Texas, also wanted to meet a new girlfriend. “I was hoping to find a Christian lady who shared my interests,” he said.
Both were widows: the husband of Mrs. Matamoros, Andy Matamoros, died in 2008 after a decade-long battle with dementia. Mr Ewers’ wife, Dora Ewers, died of natural causes in 2018.
The prayer of Mrs. Matamoros was the result of a promise she made to herself when Mr. Matamoros died after 31 years of marriage. “I swore I would never look at another man,” said Ms. Matamoros, who has two daughters, Katherine Daniels and Karen Truxillo, six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
But Mr. Ewers, a retired petroleum and natural gas engineer who had been married to Mrs. Ewers for 55 years when she died, hadn’t ruled out a new romantic relationship. After meeting Ms. Matamoros in their community’s weekly Bible study group in January 2020, he wanted to get to know her better.
“I thought she might teach me about the Bible,” said Mr. Ewers, who has two sons, Michael Ewers and Kevin Ewers, a daughter, Brenda Davis, and six grandchildren.
In June, he knocked on her apartment door for a chat. Ms. Matamoros, a former catering employee of a hotel chain who later became a baker, was surprised to see her new acquaintance standing on her doorstep.
Especially wonderful for Mr. Ewers was Ms. Matamoros’ love of football: implicit in his desire for a partner who shared his interests was appreciation for his favorite sport. “If you look around you see that not too many women watch football,” he said.
At first they were friends. But within a month, their relationship became romantic, prompting Ms. Matamoros to reconsider her vow to shun men.
“I didn’t get the lady,” she said, referring to the prayer partner she had in mind. But getting Mr. Ewers taught her something. “Love is timeless,” she said. “It can reach you at any age.”
When the couple got engaged in November 2021, not all of their children were thrilled. “Katherine was quite shocked and very outspoken,” said Ms. Matamoros. Mr Ewers said, “It was pretty much the same with my family,” adding, “they thought we should wait longer.”
Ms. Matamoros added: “I was honest with my daughter. I said to her, ‘We don’t know how much time we have left. We want to live through the time we have left.'” In time, both families came along Ms. Daniels is now “super-supportive,” Ms. Matamoros said.
So is the community where they met and fell in love. On April 2, Mrs. Matamoros, dressed in a white lace dress, and Mr. Ewers, in a dark suit, in front of 60 vaccinated guests at a poolside ceremony on the Belmont property. Brent Graham, the associate pastor of Lakeway Church and the leader of their Bible study group, functioned.
Among those in attendance were several neighbors and community workers, along with most of the bride and groom’s children, and many of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“He has won my heart and now we can be together around the clock,” said Ms. Matamoros. “We are partners for life.”
