Margot Pena and Douglas Steigerwald's recent wedding is proof that true love comes when you least expect it. Married last month at Clearwater Beach in Springs overlooking Gardiner's Bay, the soulmates found each other much later in life.
Ms. Pena, 65, is originally from Colombia. The oldest of 13 children, she lost her mother when she was about 12 and her father died not long after from lung cancer. "My mom raised all of these kids and starting working at age 12," her son, Brandon Sandoval Pena, said. "She was seen by all her siblings as a mother figure." Her first husband and the father of Brandon and his sister, Whendy, was on the police force in Colombia. He was killed when Mr. Sandoval Pena was 5 "because of violence in Colombia due to gangs."
"My mom just dedicated her life to my sister and me and put her life on the back burner," Mr. Sandoval Pena said last month while sitting down with his mother to share the story of her life. "My mother came here to the U.S. with a visa to work to somehow make ends meet and bring my sister and I here. That took maybe seven years. Mom would come back and forth to visit us. My sister came here to the U.S. three years before I did. And I came in 2008."
Ms. Pena eventually became a cosmetologist; she works at Special Effects in East Hampton.
As the youngest, Mr. Sandoval Pena, who is a dental hygienist and dental tech in East Hampton, said he feels responsible for his mother. He and his sister, who lives in Springs with her three children, have always hoped their mother would find a partner. "We thought it was important, as she is coming of age," Mr. Sandoval Pena said. They made her an online profile and set her up on some dating sites. "She met a few sketchy people, to say the least," he said.
Finally, just over three years ago, she connected with Mr. Steigerwald on the dating app Plenty of Fish. "He's an American guy," she said. "I was feeling embarrassed from my strong accent. My English is not 100 percent. I say, 'Douglas, you can call me, and you will see when you hear my voice,' and he called me and we talked almost 15 minutes. He said, 'The accent is not a problem, it's sexy and I understand everything you say.' "
After getting to know each other over the phone, the pair met for their first date, brunch at John Papas in East Hampton.
"She was so cute," Mr. Steigerwald said. "We both got out of our cars, and she grabbed my hand right away, and said, 'Come on, we're going to go over here.' "
"He ordered a lot of food," Ms. Pena said. "I take care of my weight and my health. I say, 'Douglas, can I do something for you? I don't want you eating a lot of carbs and potatoes and fries.' He look at me like he couldn't believe it."
Mr. Steigerwald was smitten.
"They are a match made in heaven," Mr. Sandoval Pena said.
Mr. Steigerwald lived in Cedar Beach in Mount Sinai, and runs Designscapes of Long Island, a landscape design-build firm based in East Patchogue. The couple have been commuting back and forth since that first date, and on July 4, 2023, he proposed. "My mom is super excited because Douglas sends her flowers constantly, he's very romantic," Mr. Sandoval Pena said. A florist for 36 years, Mr. Steigerwald knows the power of flowers.
"She is super happy that she found love," Mr. Sandoval Pena said.
"It was good timing for us," said Mr. Steigerwald, who is in the process of relocating to East Hampton.
The couple have already done plenty of traveling together, including to Colombia, Florida, and Las Vegas, and recently returned from a honeymoon in Puerto Rico.
They were married on Sept. 14, with close friends and family there to celebrate the beginning of their next chapter.
With Reporting by Carissa Katz
