When Mickey and Terry met, they had both been single for about five years.
“Both of us had happy marriages,” Mickey says. “So when we lost our spouses, we realized that we had to be happy to be around other people. People don’t want to be around somebody that’s moping all the time.”
They were introduced over a game of bridge at Liberty Heights in Colorado Springs, where they both live. Their playing styles and personalities meshed.
“They’ve got bridge games here, and we went down to the bridge game and it turned out we were partners,” Mickey says.
“Our style of play was compatible,” says Terry. “Our attitude toward the game was compatible. Our attitude toward each other was compatible.”
Mickey and Terry continued to play bridge together. They spent more and more time away from the bridge table, too. They began meeting for coffee or tea, and they shared some favorite lunch spots in Colorado Springs.
They dated for a little over a year before they decided to get married.
“I had no intention of getting married,” Terry says. “I mean, it was furthest off from my mind.”
“We both established contentment,” Mickey says. “And I think maybe that’s part of what drew us to each other–that we were both contented with our lives and open to making friends, never thinking about remarrying. But when we did find that we had so much in common and enjoyed each other so much, we decided that we didn’t know if we’d have six months or ten years left in our lives. But we’re enjoying every day we’ve got.”
Mickey and Terry were married by Terry’s son, who is a judge, in the comfort of the home they now share together at Liberty Heights.
Terry describes the ceremony as “very quiet, very small, very effective.”
Today they are enjoying their lives together at Liberty Heights.
“We’re Sudoku players too,” says Terry. “It’s solitary, but it’s competitive between the two of us. The games here start easy on Monday and get real tough by Friday, and the way we have it set up is that whoever is winning gets to keep doing them unless they miss out, then the other person gets to do them until that person misses out. The trick is how long you can keep it.”
And they continue to socialize with their neighbors.
“The interesting thing about Liberty Heights is that people come from all different backgrounds,” Mickey says. “They’ve been all over the world, and so there are a lot of interesting people here that are congenial to be around. So that makes for a happy atmosphere.”
Next, read the Love Story of Henry and Bertha Webb.