PONDERAY — When Glenn Hescock and Doris Trussell came to Sandpoint Furniture last week, they were looking for a new mattress and recliner.

By the time they left, they’d found not only folks to stand up for them at their wedding, but also a spot to hold the ceremony.

But that’s getting ahead of things. First comes a rather special love story.

The story begins when Doris Trussell placed an ad in “The Ruralite” from her Troy, Mont., home saying she was lonely and wanted an 80ish year-old companion to travel and spend time with.

A few states away in Oregon, the ad immediately caught the eye of Glenn Hescock, who put the magazine aside so he could find out more when he had more time. There it sat, right on the counter’s edge, opened to the page with Doris’ ad, for a month until Glenn got the next edition of the magazine.

“I read it and looked and it wasn’t in there again,” he said. “I figured it was probably gone and I’ll just throw it away.”

As he read the newest edition, Glenn again walked past the magazine, still opened to the page with Doris’ ad, still sitting on the counter’s edge. He read the ad again but figured it was too late and it was best to throw the magazine away. He even got as far as taking out the garbage but found the magazine was still in his hand as he turned to go back inside.

He put the magazine in his computer room, and then picked it up again. Glenn said he then sat down and wrote Doris a letter and gave her his phone number.

“I just told her I’m a Christian and I’m lonesome,” said Glenn. “That I wanted to do some traveling and enjoy life. Then she called me — and we talked for two hours on the phone.”

He said the answer on why he couldn’t put the magazine down, on why he sent the letter even though the edition with Doris’ ad was a month old is simple: God.

“He was telling me, ‘This is what you have been looking for,’” Glenn said. “I just couldn’t put it down. When I tried, He just said, ‘No, don’t.’”

Doris said loneliness was also what prompted her to place the ad in “The Ruralite.” The response was tremendous with Doris receiving piles of letters. She answered each of them and talked to them but knew right away that Glenn was special.

“He was the only one that said he loved the Lord,” she added. “And so that’s the one I aimed for. He loves Jesus.”

“Just everything about him is special,” Doris said of Glenn. “I never had a man who waited on me hand and foot and I never had a man that helped me before and he’s always right there to help me. He’s just so kind and he loves little kids and they’re just attracted to him. We’ll sit in church and little kids there will look at me and just go on their way. They see him and they just grin and reach their hands out. He’s just kind. Just a good man.”

Glenn said he also knew from the beginning that Doris was special.

“Everything we said, we just seemed to click,” he said. “She’d lost four husbands and I was divorced four times. Both of us, well, just everything fit. This was this way, that was that way, it fit. Everything just fell together.”

Doris also knew their meeting was special, that Glenn was special.

“He told me right away he wanted to get married,” Doris said. “He says, ‘There’s something different about you.’ He says, ‘I just feel it.’ There’s nothing about me at all. If you see anything in me it’s Jesus and that’s all. He said he’d had enough of painted women. I said an old ugly thing like me, you want to marry me?

“He said, ‘Yes.’ He said I don’t look at looks. I see what’s inside, I see your kindness. No woman has ever treated me like you do.’”

While they only met this summer, the couple knew early on they would marry. However, for the first month or so, things were too busy as Glenn sold his home in Oregon and began the process of moving to Montana. As they figured out what might still be needed for their home, they realized they needed a new mattress and Doris wanted to buy Glenn a recliner.

And that’s where Sandpoint Furniture sales manager Jody Shapiro and sales associate Nichole Marcott come in. They were helping Glenn and Doris when the talk turned to the couple’s eventual marriage.

Shapiro recalls Doris mentioning she was an ordained minister and might just marry the pair herself if they could find people to stand up for them.

“Nichole and I, being who we are, said …,” Shapiro began as Marcott chimes in without a pause, “at the same exact time …”

“Oh we’ll do it,” the pair said in unison. “You should do the wedding here.”

At first they didn’t think Glenn and Doris would take them up on the offer. Then a few days later, Doris called and asked if Thursday at 2 p.m. would work for everyone. After quick check with the owners and bosses at Sandpoint Furniture, the wedding was on.

An employee who had worked as a wedding planner set up a spot in the store, pulling items from around the store to make it a special spot and Shapiro ran over to Yoke’s and got a wedding cake and some sparkling cider to help celebrate. A wedding bouquet and boutonnière also were purchased once they knew what colors Doris and Glenn wanted.

“There was something special about them,” Marcott said of the offer to throw a wedding for the couple.

“We thought it would be a great idea if they didn’t have a place to get married or anybody to stand up for them, let’s get these two hitched,” added Shapiro.

“They’re so cute and they look so happy and we’re just so glad we could do this for them,” agreed Marcott.

Glenn and Doris were humbled by the store’s decision to throw them a wedding and said they were thankful for the kindness and love they have been shown.

“It’s just the most fantastic thing that’s ever happened,” said Glenn as Doris adds, “I just love them girls. They’re just special.”

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.