Couple, ages 87 and 79, marry in pharmacy

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JACKSON, Miss., Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Valentine's Day in Madison, Miss., included the wedding of a bride and groom, ages 87 and 79, at the cash register of a supermarket pharmacy.

Osler Moore and Billie Small, who intended to tie the knot Sunday in a Heflin, Miss., church, decided to move the ceremony up when the romantic in Moore suggested, "It's Valentine's Day. Why not get married?" The Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson, Miss., reported Friday.

After mentioning to Kroger supermarket manager John Bell Crosby that Moore and his bride would be married at the Madison County Justice Court that day, Crosby half-jokingly suggested that, in his capacity as a county supervisor, he could officiate at the wedding.

Moore, a retired pharmacist, responded, "Can we do it in your pharmacy?"

An audience of Kroger employees and customers watched Moore and Small exchange vows in a speedy ceremony at the pharmacy checkout counter, done with cut-and-pasted notes Crosby assembled after a Google search, the newspaper said.

When it came time to affirm the vows, Moore joked, "I thought about it. I do." Small gave the same response when it was her turn.

The bride had a previous marriage of 56 years, ending with her husband's death 14 years ago. The groom's first wife of 60 years died six months before Small's husband. Moore and Small met 60 years ago and were reunited last May, when Moore, looking at old school yearbooks, saw her picture and called her, the newspaper said.

"I remembered him instantly," Small said.