According to Dante, he first met Beatrice when his father took him to the Portinari house for a May Day party. They were both nine years old at the time, though Beatrice was a few months younger than Dante. Dante was instantly taken with her and remained so throughout his life even though she married another man, the banker Simone dei Bardi, in 1287. Dante married Gemma Donati in 1285 and had children. Yet in spite of this, he maintained a deep love and respect for Beatrice, even after her death in 1290. After Beatrice's death, Dante withdrew into intense study and began composing poems dedicated to her memory. The collection of these poems, along with others he had previously written in his journal in awe of Beatrice, became "La Vita Nuova".