By the time Biden was proposing a fifth time to Dr. Biden, he was a widowed and single father to two sons — Hunter and Beau, who were 6 and 7 years old. And those boys loved Dr. Biden, too. The president recounted how his sons played a part in the proposal all those years ago. “I said, ‘What’s the matter, guys?’” Biden said. “Beau finally said, ‘Dad, we were talking. We think we should marry Jill.’” The story is so sweet because it’s a reminder of, and even a lesson in, just how much kids matter when it comes to building new, blended families — and Hunter and Beau’s support for their dad marrying Jill was clearly instrumental in their relationship. Kids won’t always be all in on blending families, but making sure they feel heard and their feelings are validated is super important. And that clearly happened with this. He also mentioned how it was practically love at first sight. “My brother set us up on a blind date, and when I went out with her the first time, I knew that this was the woman, I really did,” Biden told Barrymore in an upcoming episode, according to a clip shared by Today. “I had to ask her five times, and the fifth time, I was in South Africa, trying to see Nelson Mandela,” he continues. “I came back, got off the plane in Philadelphia, drove straight to her apartment, knocked on the door and [she] said, ‘Oh Joe, come on in.’ I said no. I said, ‘You got my Irish up.’ And I said, ‘I’m asking you one more time.’ I said, ‘You don’t have to say when, but if. If you say no, I understand, and that’s it. “I looked at her and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ She goes, ‘OK.’ Swear to God.” Having already asked Dr. Biden four times before, Biden called his sister and asked her if she knew why he got a yes, this time. “‘What made her change her mind?’” Biden recalled asking his sister. “She told me (Jill) fell in love with the boys.” And the rest is history.
