Sometimes Cupid’s arrow takes a straight flight to the heart. Other times, it’s a winding journey.
Christine and Joseph Zaranto, who have known each other since sixth grade, would have to wait until they were both 60 before sealing their love through marriage.
The Newport Beach couple was part of a love-struck crowd that swarmed the county’s clerk-recorder offices in Anaheim, Laguna Hills and Santa Ana to make their love official on Valentine’s Day.
“We usually have 80 marriages a day,” said Orange County Clerk-Recorder Hugh Nguyen.
But on Tuesday, there were 250 appointments. And walk-ins were welcome.
Extra staff was added to help the flow. At the Old Courthouse in Santa Ana, the staff wore pink.
“It’s the most romantic day at the office,” Nguyen said. “The next big marriage days are 2-3-23 and 2-23-23.”
For the Zarantos, their story began after they both divorced their respective partners and reconnected through social media.
Christine Zaranto was still in Illinois where she had raised her family, and Joseph Zaranto was living in Huntington Beach when they met up for Thanksgiving dinner four years ago. They reunited at Joseph Zaranto’s childhood home in Woodstock, Illinois — where the 1993 movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray was filmed, she noted — the first time they had seen each other since high school.
Christine Zaranto remembers Joseph Zaranto as “a nice guy.” He remembers her as “quiet.” Unlike now, he said.
Their recipe for a successful marriage is “patience, calm and understanding.” And to laugh a lot.
“Relationships shouldn’t be hard work,” Christine Zaranto said.
They have a bucket list of places they plan to visit in California: Catalina Island, the Redwoods and wine country.
Their plans for the future are to “have a fabulous life,” Mary Zaranto, the groom’s sister, said.
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