There has been so little good news around the world lately, but Finland has been celebrating something wonderful. A 98-year-old woman called Senni just got married for the first time in her life. Her husband is 89.
What people found especially touching was how they described the moment they met. They used the Finnish word kolahtaa.
Kolahtaa is a hard word to translate into English. Literally, it means something like being hit, a physical impact, a sensation that lands in the body. But emotionally, it describes that instant when something reaches you deeply, without logic or explanation. When something doesn’t just make sense, it lands. It hits you somewhere inside.
And in that sense, it is a beautiful word to use for love. Because that is exactly what it can feel like when you meet someone and there is that unmistakable recognition that really hits you, and that rearranges everything instantly.
What makes this story even more striking is that they did not hesitate. When they met and something kolahti, they didn’t overthink it, delay it, or talk themselves out of it. They chose each other. They got married on Finland’s Independence Day, of all days. A personal declaration of freedom, right at the end of a long life.
The public reaction was immediate. People were genuinely moved. Comment sections filled with emotion and hope. It reminded people that love actually exists. That it is not always transactional. That it is not only about timing, productivity, youth, or life stages. That you can meet your person at any age and fall in love.
I have seen so many videos on TikTok where women describe meeting the right person as “the right salad at the wrong time,” and I feel that deeply in my soul. And this little piece of news gave people hope that maybe one day, the timing will be right. Maybe the right salad will finally arrive at the right moment.
Maybe it will happen in your sixties. Or your seventies. Or your eighties. Or even your nineties.
That is the great mystery of life. You never know when that kind of mutual recognition will happen. You never know when something will kolahtaa. And when it does, it is not small or vague or “quite meaningful.” It changes you. It brings a depth of happiness that has nothing to do with age, logic, or timing. It reminds you that love is real.
