Love stories: Couple draw close after losses

Her license plate reads: “WASREIT.” His reads: “FNDMSRT.”

She was Mrs. Reit (pronounced “right”) and he found her, his Mrs. Right.

Their story is a tearjerker – tears both of sorrow and great joy.

Karen and Fred McRae’s love story began in the fall of 2004. Both were married and had been for about 40 years, both had ill spouses who were struggling with the complications of Parkinson’s disease, and both were resigned to the idea that it was only a matter of time.

“We each grieved for our first spouses for a couple of years before they died,” said Karen McRae.

In the fall of 2004, they met briefly. From the nearby small towns of Grand Coulee and Wilbur, Wash., the pair had heard of each other through the grapevine, but their meeting at Loepp’s Furniture was purely coincidental.

As their spouses sat together on a couch, Fred approached Karen and introduced himself.

“I told him I would be willing to get together with him to talk about the challenges of taking care of a sick spouse and gave him my name and number, which he put in his wallet,” Karen said.

Time passed, and while Fred’s wife, Faye, kept asking if he was going to call Karen, he did not because he was uncertain how Gary, Karen’s husband, would feel about it.

On Jan. 22, 2005, Gary Reit died; eight days later, Faye McRae passed away.

Six weeks later, Fred McRae was walking past the phone and God said, “Call Karen,” so he did.

They talked for an hour and later for another hour when Fred suggested they meet face to face. Karen replied, “Not in your town or mine.”

“I was still hung up on what people would think and not listening to what God was telling me,” she said. “So, without thinking, I invited a total stranger to my house for coffee.”

At 9 a.m. on a following Saturday, Karen answered the door with a paper towel and bottle of Windex in her hand. “We sat on my porch swing and talked and cried and drank coffee and talked and cried and drank coffee,” Karen recalled.

Fred stayed for lunch, and they talked some more, went for a hike and played games. At 5 p.m., Fred left after asking for a hug.

“After all we’d talked about, I thought she probably needed a hug,” Fred said.

Still unsure how others would react to a “relationship” so soon after her husband’s death, Karen kept her new friendship to herself.

As they lunched at a bed and breakfast in Grand Coulee, Karen ran into some close friends. Fred leaned over to her and whispered, “Busted.”

“I was the only one worried about how others would perceive our relationship, but it turned out that people were excited for us,” Karen said.

Gary Reit’s brother predicted Karen wouldn’t stay single for long. Troy, Karen’s son, said Fred was his mother’s reward for being strong and faithful all those years. Friends and other family members were supportive and gave their blessings.

Both Karen and Fred were smiling again.

“We had no idea we’d marry again – neither of us was looking,” said Fred.

God had other ideas.

“God had to speak to my heart and say, ‘Karen, this is the man I have for you now. Move forward and enjoy the relationship.’ Another time, he said, ‘Karen, I know you love him now, so tell him,’ ” Karen recalled.

The Reit and McRae families met at the wedding rehearsal dinner. On Oct. 1, 2005, the couple were married at the Coulee Dam Community Presbyterian Church.

In lieu of gifts, attendees were asked to bring a potluck dish for all to enjoy.

The couple now live in the Millwood area, and their love for each other is evident in their grins and the way they gaze at each other. Their eyes tear up with the residuals of a shared sorrow – but more so with joy.

They agree they have used their past experiences to make their relationship flow. Everything is better, they said.

Together, they garden, ride bikes, go to church and Bible study and shop.

“There’s not much we don’t do together,” Karen said. “I feel strange when Fred’s not with me.”