A man who was a teenager when he married his friend’s mother weeks after meeting at her son’s funeral has paid a heartfelt tribute to his older wife on her 80th birthday.
Gary Hardwick, now 26, and his wife Almeda, 80, a Walmart employee from Tennessee, are no strangers to controversy and even have a joint OnlyFans selling explicit content to their subscribers.
And it seems their passion continues to grow, with Gary describing Almeda as his “babydoll” and his “queen” in a touching birthday tribute to mark her birthday.
Full Instagram the message read: “Happy birthday to the most incredible woman in the world. Today is not only your day, but more importantly, today is an opportunity to celebrate the birth of such a wonderful and true woman with a heart of gold.
“I am the luckiest husband every day I wake up next to you. You make me the happiest man every day and I always want to make you the happiest woman.
Gary Hardwick was just 17 when he married Almeda, a Walmart employee, just two weeks after they first met at her son’s funeral and then again at a child’s birthday party.
“You deserve the world and until my last breath, I will work hard to give it to you. All my happiest moments are moments that I share with you. I hope you have the best birthday ever today and I hope you enjoy all your surprises, my love.
“You are truly the love of my life and I love you with every beat of my heart. This is to celebrate my queen. Happy birthday babydoll.
Gary, aged in his 20s, also made wine-infused salmon for the elderly man – and treated him to wine to mark the occasion.
Gary was just 17 when he married Almeda in a $200 ceremony, two weeks after they first met at his son’s funeral and then again at a children’s birthday party.
Although their relationship raised eyebrows, Almeda insisted it was true love and that her husband was mature for his age.
Meanwhile, Gary spoke openly about their sex life, saying: “The first time we had sex was on our wedding night. It was an incredible experience. There was such a deep connection there. She is a wonderful lover.
Since then, they have had a part of their TikTok videos reported, with Gary explaining: “We had some of our content taken down, it was flagged for ‘sexually explicit content’.”
A year after their big day, the Hardwicks admitted that many people disagreed with their relationship, including Almeda’s son, who hadn’t spoken to her since the day she met Gary.
The Tennessee couple, who are no strangers to controversy, also have a joint OnlyFans selling explicit content to their followers — and have even had some TikToks flagged due to their adult nature.
Aaron and Indiana Elliott, two of Almeda’s six grandchildren, also struggled to accept their relationship — especially Aaron, who is three years older than his step-grandfather.
Aaron said: “I only called him grandad once and that was when I was drunk. In my head, I see him as a friend more than a grandfather. But you know, our grandmother is happy.
Indiana, 17, added: “How can you not support this?
“For me personally, whenever they first met, it was a little weird. But I mean, we live in the 21st century and these things really shouldn’t matter.
“My mother, on the other hand, is very outspoken, because you know there’s also an age difference between him and my mother. So it’s a little weird to see your mother walking around with someone one the same age as his own children.
