Monica LaSalle, Nederland. Sometimes, you give it a shot and it doesn’t have that Hollywood ending you were taught to expect. Life just seems to interfere and get in the way, twisting your story to an unexpected ending. One’s love story screeches to a halt and leaves you blinking woozily as your new, unfamiliar world abruptly settles in a cloud of dust around you. You walk through your days, slowly becoming familiar with your new status, re-acclimating to the sights and sounds of your existence and the ebb and flow of people around you. Just when you think you are finally on steady ground again, love strikes again like lightning, leaving you wondering if that feeling you are experiencing is actually what you remember it to be.

Gently seeping through a wall of jaded reserve, or perhaps resignation, is just what seems to have happened to Doctors Cathy Valen and Mike Camarrata. Both had been through intense relationship experiences in the past. But in 2008, mutual friend and neighbor Gina Walters started connecting the dots for them, outlining compatibilities and coincidences until they agreed to meet for a first date.

They met at La Estralita in Boulder, and both agree it was a rather awkward first date because neither had dated in a while. But they soon discovered that love can be like riding a bike again after a long time away from it. Mike began wooing Cathy’s young son Devon, realizing the importance of winning him over if the relationship was going to work. Smart man that he is, he gave Devon a Game Boy and it had the desired effect.

In March of 2009, Mike asked Cathy to marry him. When she accepted, he decided to take the summer off to spend time with her son and solidify their new family. In August of 2010, they were married at Mount Hope Lutheran Church in Boulder, a location that enabled their many octogenarian family members to attend with ease. Devon was the best man and at age 11, he nearly fainted with nerves. He later gave a brilliant toast to the new couple, showing impressive mettle. Mike surprised Cathy with having taken dance lessons at Fred Estaire’s in Denver in anticipation of performing the Venetian waltz for the reception in the Renaissance ballroom. They spent their honeymoon in Breckenridge before coming home to set up camp on Cathy’s ranch.

Mike and Cathy soon realized there were some interesting differences in their lifestyles that both needed to work to overcome. For instance, Cathy had grown up on a ranch feeding horses and other livestock. Mike had never done this type of work and began to learn all Cathy had to teach him about his new lifestyle. He soon learned just how independent Cathy is when she resumed doing DIY projects around the house, something Mike had never had an inclination to do. She learned that during football season, it was just easier to indulge his passion to watch every game. Mike being a more traditional medicine man, soon learned to open his mind to alternative medicine with Cathy’s gentle prodding and exemplary practice. He gave her permission to improve him.

There are some crucial aspects of their relationship that form the gel that hold them together. Essentially, Mike makes her laugh, they travel great together, and they share an interest in skiing, fishing and eating. All the marks of a good, long lasting relationship.

(Originally published in the February 14, 2019, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)