Luck was on their side
Mike and Cynthia Cheeley know how lucky they are to have found each other in the autumn of their lives. At the time they met, Cynthia, mother of four grown children and a music teacher, had been living and working in Coeur d’Alene for 25 years. Mike, a Minnesota native and a widower with four children, was footloose and directionless after losing his wife and retiring from a 37-year career as a high school and college English teacher. He loves telling and retelling the story of their meeting. The following was a newspaper “valentine” which appeared in a Coeur d’Alene paper just before their wedding.
“Traveling from Minnesota to Coeur d’Alene, I’d been visiting my brother, Herb, and sister-in-law, Betty. It was the fall of 2002, and on this particular visit, Betty informed me that she and a friend would go along on a day trip Herb and I had planned. That was fine until she said this friend was one she’d been waiting to introduce me to for some time. I became a bit nervous. I hadn’t thought about any new relationship; at 62, I suspected my romantic life was over. When Cynthia arrived, I was embarrassed to discover she was so young! Certainly, Betty wasn’t thinking a romantic relationship was possible … perhaps a friendship, someone to have coffee with occasionally when I’m out West. Cynthia told me later she hadn’t planned to spend the day with us. At 52, the prospect of meeting a man who was 60-something didn’t sound all that exciting. She did, however, agree to go with us …. While visiting the Sprag Pole museum (in Murray) , I tried moving near Cynthia to say something, but she walked away before I could. After repeating that a few times, I suspected there wasn’t much interest even in socializing. There were brief moments of eye contact, as I sat across the table during lunch at the Snakepit in Enaville; however, if anyone had asked me whether Cynthia was interested, I would’ve said, ‘I really doubt it.’
“The surprise came the next morning, when Betty suggested I attend the church where Cynthia was the director of music. I thought it might appear presumptuous to think she’d want me to visit, so it took quite a bit of courage to go, especially since Herb and Betty couldn’t be along to make my presence appear less desperate. I slipped into a pew near the door. I felt uncomfortable during worship, which is quite unusual for me, but I was. I couldn’t leave without saying ‘Hi,’ so after worship I waited for her. She seemed friendly, but that’s expected in welcoming visitors. I asked whether she had time for coffee between services. Cynthia led me to the fellowship hall and too soon it was time for her to leave for the next service. I asked whether we might get together later, and she appeared at my brother’s door later that afternoon … a hot babe in a little red sports car. She took me for a drive around Beauty Bay, and then a walk hand-in-hand along the lake.”
Cynthia interjects: “Mike couldn’t have known it, but I didn’t sleep a wink that Sunday night. I played through two entire books of piano music, and then ironed for a few hours before deciding around 4:30 a.m. to go over to Herbie’s house before starting my teaching day. Herb’s often up baking by that time of day. I found Herb and Mike playing cribbage at the kitchen table, and things just snowballed.”
Mike’s narrative continues: “Our friendship grew in the next four months to real love. Cynthia is altogether beautiful and has ravished my heart. She entered my life in a casual way and saw at a glance what I needed: refashioning the dream of my heart.”
This last line is from a love poem Mike memorized and often recites to Cynthia. After a whirlwind courtship, the couple was married in Phoenix on Valentine’s Day of 2003, in a ceremony attended by their siblings and children, and approximately four dozen friends who somehow invited themselves and just showed up.
After their wedding night in Phoenix, the minister’s wife met them at their hotel in a panic. She asked Mike if he’d slept with Cynthia the night before. He said, “Of course.” She then handed him their marriage license. Mike had forgotten to include his middle name in his signature, rendering the license invalid. Banking on good intentions and divine forgiveness, the couple flew off to Florida and a honeymoon cruise in the western Caribbean.
Cynthia says, “I can’t imagine a more perfect honeymoon. I wish more couples could experience the excitement of really getting to know each other on their honeymoon.”
After three years of marital bliss, Mike and Cynthia feel they’re still in the first phase of married life. They both share a deep faith and place their religious beliefs at the center of their life together. They’re looking forward to spending this winter in the Phoenix area, where Mike will be the lay pastor of a church in Mesa. Next summer they plan to accompany Cynthia’s daughter, Sara, to China where she’ll pick up her adopted baby girl.
And, says Cynthia with a smile, “We have big plans for our 20th anniversary … if we can still push the wheelchairs.”