90-Year-Old Grandmother Is Ready for Romance After 63-Year Lavender Marriage. 'I Get to Live My Truth Now' (Exclusive)

• Christian Owens says she had a feeling her grandparents, Elida and Donald, were part of the LGBTQ+ community during their 63-year marriage

• Now 90, Elida isn't letting age keep her from exploring her sexuality in the wake of her husband's death and the closure of their lavender marriage

• In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Owens and Elida discuss how being true to one's self doesn't have an age limit

In a viral TikTok, Christian Owens shares a sweet video detailing her grandparents’ 63-year marriage. But it comes with a twist.

For more than six decades, Owens’ grandfather, Donald, was living as a gay man, and her grandmother, Elida, was bisexual.

The revelation came after Donald’s death in July 2021. It was then his family spoke about how he never got to live his truth as a gay man. Owens exclusively tells PEOPLE how Elida shocked her family when she announced, “At least I get to live mine now,” revealing she’s attracted to women, too.

"Being able to live as my true self now means more to me than freedom, it is freedom," Elida exclusively reveals to PEOPLE. "Please don’t get me wrong, I loved my husband so much. We had a beautiful life together, but not being able to be our true selves made us felt like we were in a prison."

The pair’s love story began decades ago when Elida and Donald crossed paths at a club in West Hollywood known for its LGBTQ+ nightlife scene. “They started out as friends,” Christian says. “They were inseparable.”

Elida, who moved to Los Angeles from Colombia at 18 years old, and Donald, working as an artist in Hollywood, decided to get married due to the discrimination around sexual orientation at the time. "With my grandmother being an immigrant, him being in Hollywood, and it not being accepted, they said 'Okay, why don't we get married,' " Owens explains.

Related: When Grooms Were Denied Wedding Services for Being Gay, This 90-Year-Old Grandma Had the Perfect Response (Exclusive)

“My grandparents had an arrangement,” she continues. “When my grandfather was home, he prioritized him and her and their family.” This arrangement allowed them to present a conventional front to the world while privately acknowledging their true selves. But, as Owen says, they were able to date people outside of their marriage as long as they followed a set of rules.

Despite their differences around sexuality, Owens emphasizes the deep respect the two had for one another. “My grandfather worshiped the ground she walked on,” she says. “He did everything. He opened doors for her. He paid bills. He was even the stay-at-home dad so she could pursue her dream.”

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Now at 90 years old, Elida is embracing her sexuality, with her family’s full support. Owens opened up about her long family history of acceptance, noting that Elida's daughter is a lesbian, her son-in-law is bisexual with three gay brothers, and Owens, herself, identifies as a lesbian.

Living in an environment of acceptance within the family has made coming out easy. Owens remembers feeling "very protected" when coming out herself "because I knew I wasn't have to worry about my family passing judgment on me," she says.

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She recalls this being the norm throughout her childhood. So when Elida came out, Owens even joked about helping her grandmother find a date, saying, "This would be a good time to post your video about you being gay, and then I can get you a girlfriend."

Since Owens posted the clip on TikTok, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “People have been showing unconditional support and they are just proud of my grandmother for being who she is,” she says.

Other TikTok users have used the video to share their own experiences in lavender marriages. “11 years into my lavender marriage and six kids later lol we will see what life brings us,” one user wrote.

“Dating my husband, he told me he got ‘engaged’ when he was in the Navy to his friend Carol to get her out of trouble. That’s when I knew he was the one," another shared.

As Owens reflects on her grandmother’s journey, one lesson remains important to her: "It's never too late to love who you love, and there’s nothing wrong with loving who you love."

Read the original article on People