In honor of Valentine’s Day, resident Teri Yerkes details her 20 years of wedded bliss with husband Bill
By Teri Yerkes
Special to The Sun
Bill and I met at the First United Methodist church of Williamstown. Both of us went to cherub choir rehearsal, where his daughter and my two children attended weekly. We were the only two parents who waited at the church while the children were rehearsing, so we started talking to one another and a love started to bloom. We started dating and spending time together; Bill was just what my soul longed for.
The love in the relationship felt so fresh and new; there was a beautiful innocence between us I hadn’t experienced for a long time. We fell deeply into love, but since both of us had had a difficult ride with love up until then, we were very cautious about moving too quickly into a relationship.
It would take us three months before we would share our first kiss.
Bill and I are so compatible — we both have very similar values and work ethics. The foundation of our marriage is built on trust and respect.
There has always been an underlining expectation we would treat each other with care and we really enjoy being in each other’s company. Both of us have demanding workloads and we just naturally support one another. There are still days where we look at each other and just can’t believe how beautiful and happy our life is.
We are so grateful to God for bringing the two of us together, and this gratitude is evident in how we love and express that love toward one another. We married on Jan. 7, 1998 — two years from the day we had our first kiss. This year we are celebrating 20 years of marriage bliss.
