The Miracle of Aging

Joan has found more sweet surprises in midlife than chocolate. She also found love at age 51, literally right under her nose. Joan met her fiancé, Jim, on an elevator! "I was on the ninth floor; his business was on the eighth floor," she says. "He walked in with his son, Connor, and I just said to myself, 'That's what he looks like—the man of my dreams.'"

Like Joan, Jim says he also was in the process of thinking big. "I had just, at that point in my life, decided that I would start to think about what's next for me," he says. "And it was at the time ... the elevator doors opened up."

Joan says it's no mistake that following her dreams resulted in finding love. "By being open to being a chocolatier, moving to a different part of town, I found the person that is the right person for me," she says. "If you're just open, life really can change in a split second."