Boots Anson-Roa may be a widow and may have turned 69 early this year, but it seems she’s just starting to embark on her life’s journey as she prepares to tie the knot with lawyer King Rodrigo this weekend.

The veteran FAMAS awardee, who shot to popularity in the 60s and who is known for her on-screen ties with actors Joseph Estrada, Eddie Gutierrez and Fernando Poe Junior, will be married to 74-year-old attorney King, a former consul general of the Philippines in the US, on 14 June, Saturday.

Boots and atty King are breaking popular Filipino belief on widows, widowers and senior citizens whose love lives are often taken for granted by younger generations because of their age. They are breaking an unwritten cultural norm that if you are a senior citizen and your life time partner has died, to uphold your love for your deceased spouse you should not fall in love again for the rest of your life.

Regardless of age, a lot about the couple’s wedding remains traditional. The couple had a ‘pamamanhikan’ on Boot’s birthday last January, a tradition wherein the suitor formally asks the woman’s parents for her hand in marriage. But instead of Boot’s father giving her away, it was her son by late husband Pete Roa who blessed the couple and released her.

Boots and atty King also asked for blessings from their respective former spouses by visiting their graves before they got engaged last year.

Atty King kisses his 99-year-old mother Remedios during the pamamanhikan

Aside from the pre-wedding traditions, Boots and atty King will also have their own honeymoon. Like young newlywed couples, they are currently practicing chastity before the big day. Atty King said: ‘Ang regalo kong hinihingi kay Boots ay yung kanyang chastity. We have not consummated our love for each other. We will do that on the honeymoon.

‘Mas exciting yung ganoon, ‘di ba?’

However, the lawyer said they might move the date of the honeymoon so that they can spend more time with their children who came over from America to attend the wedding.

The Saturday church wedding will be attended by the couple’s family and closest friends, including a number of showbiz names. Aside from the wedding, 14 June is also atty King’s 75^th birthday, truly making it a double celebration of love that knows no age limit.