Steve and Jan Prescott have been married for 35 years come June of 2024. It was a fateful day in June of 1986 when Steve, 36, met Jan, 24, in a small bar where she worked in Perry County, Pennsylvania.

Steve kept coming back to the bar, not just for the beer. He courted Jan and they were eventually married by a Justice of the Peace before their daughter Becky was born in August of 1988.

“I stole her from the farm,” Steve smirked proudly as Jan nodded. Jan was born and raised on a small farm that she admits had little going on. Being with Steve must have been an adventure, and apparently still is.

“He came home from work and I told him we were getting married,” Jan said with a laugh.

Jan said Steve already knew about it: they had the marriage license with the mandatory blood tests required at that time, so it came as no surprise.

Steve had two daughters from a previous marriage, Emily (Emmy) and Jenny, who stayed with them on the weekends. This and the pregnancy precluded the opportunity for a honeymoon, and the two were content in their domestic union.

One year they spent their anniversary traveling to Washington, D.C. to see the sights and celebrate.

On August 3, 2012, the Prescotts settled on their property on Dynamite Drive in Gilpin County. They were preceded by their daughters, Emmy and Becky, who helped them explore the housing market and eventually found a worthy property, without llamas in the basement or other mountain quirks.

It coincided perfectly with Steve’s retirement that June as a steel mill worker. He spent 42 years working at the Bethel Steel Mill before it went out of business.

Jan worked in the school district, starting out as a bus monitor and leading to a paraprofessional position, which aligned with taking care of their youngest daughter, Becky.

At one point, Jan was working full-time with emotionally troubled youth, and realized how lucky she was to have been loved by her family.

Jan came to Colorado first to check things out, and Steve lovingly said to her, “If you can live there, so can I. If you like it, I like it.”

They also had a young granddaughter, Annaliese, belonging to their daughter Emmy, who they looked forward to babysitting while Emmy worked at the Sundance Cafe.

Annaliese is now a cheerleader in Gilpin Schools and they enjoy watching her cheer at the games.

They said they have not left Colorado for vacations, since there is so much to see and do here in the mountains.

Often on Valentine’s Day, they dined at the Black Forest restaurant where Bill Lorenz would bring them a fine bottle of wine and José Garcia Mendoza would eagerly wait on them (both have since passed).

Jan recalled José wistfully, remarking how one year he brought her chocolates for Mother’s Day. They also talked about how sweet Bill was in welcoming them to the area as neighbors and always made them feel special.

During their most recent anniversary, Jan was going through chemotherapy for two kinds of aggressive breast cancer – so they just spent some quiet time together.

Pointing to his nose, Steve said, “I couldn’t let her get everything,” referring to a skin cancer that had to be removed. He said he learned more about cancer than he wanted to.

The Prescotts believe the key to a long-lasting relationship is: “Communication. You have to be able to tell the other person how you feel.”

Jan rejoices in the fact that she has the complete freedom to be herself with Steve.

“She’s my everything,” Steve said fondly.

Jan is now officially in recovery from breast cancer and the couple looks forward to many more Valentine’s Days together.