Jacqueline Hart Gibson, Gilpin County. Like Rosie and Bron, Mitch and Jacque also met at a wedding, but it was in September of 1993. Some weddings are sweet and lighthearted, some are fancy and extravagant, and others are a train wreck. This wedding was a train wreck and it was Jacque’s. So, when Mitch, a friend of one of the guest’s, showed up in the middle of the reception, Jacque was not pleased to meet him, though she attempted to play the role of the graceful bride. Mitch’s first impression of Jacque was, “She is the most unhappy bride I have ever seen.” Jacque’s first impression of Mitch was, “Great. Now Nederland High School is crashing our wedding.”

Mitch and Jacque wouldn’t meet again until the following year, although they were neighbors in Colorado Sierra. The second time they met, the attraction was strong, but complicated. He was a high school senior and she was four years older.

When Jacque’s marriage ended in 96, Mitch was out of high school and both were in their twenties. Mitch had spent two years after high school working in his family’s business, Arabian horse shows. Although he loved the shows and the horses, life on the road wasn’t for him, and he says, “I missed my Jacque.” Meanwhile Jacque was trying to raise a family on her own. Though she had thought Mitch being away would be a good thing for both of them, she missed him daily.

Mitch came home to claim his woman like the cowboy he now believed he was. He was armed with Jacque’s favorite flowers, stargazer lilies, and a mix tape with songs like “Don’t Stop Believing,” and Stevie Ray Vaughn’s “River of Paradise.” He showed up at her second story apartment and when she heard him drive up, she came to the window. He stood outside his car holding the flowers up to her with a cocky grin. Her heart skipped several beats, and yeah, she was defenseless to his charm. That apartment is now Underground Liquor on 119.

They lived together in Boulder for a few years in the nineties, but timing still seemed to be against them. On one hand, they were crazy in love, but on the other, he was trying to find his own path in life, and she was living hers, as a single mom with two kids. They broke up and got back together often, until 2000, when they ended it for good, or so they thought. Mitch moved to Chicago.

In 2004, Jacque moved to Scottsdale, Arizona with a new fiancé. At the same time, Mitch went back to the horse business and was in Scottsdale, Arizona for a year. Neither knew the other was there. Mitch was considering getting engaged to a woman in Illinois. Not long after moving to Arizona, Jacque noticed the horse farm Mitch had been working at and recognized the name. She had heard he had gone back to the same work but had no idea where. It took a few months for her to build up the courage to go in and ask for him. When she finally did, she was told he had quit and gone back to Illinois weeks earlier. Mitch married his first wife in October of 2004. Jacque married her second husband in February 2005.

In 2011 Mitch and Jacque had another sliding door moment. Mitch was working at Gino’s Restaurant in Chicago and Jacque was working as a substance abuse interventionist in Denver. She only left Denver for one intervention and it was to, of course, Chicago. Since she had never been to Chicago before she asked where the best Chicago style pizza was served and was told by the concierge at the hotel to go to Gino’s. Not knowing Mitch worked there, she had dinner at Mitch’s place of employment, on his day off. She flew home with no idea he even worked there.

In 2016, 23 years after they first met, Jacque and Mitch were both single and found each other on Facebook. In one of their conversations, Jacque asked Mitch if he was still happy in Illinois. He dodged the question for a few weeks and finally responded that he wasn’t and said how much he missed the Colorado mountains. Jacque replied, “Then come home.” Many phone calls and visits later, Mitch did finally come home. At first, they lived in Broomfield, but would come to the mountains every chance they got.

Gilpin County always felt like home to them. It was where they met and fell and love. It felt like the right place to start their life together. In 2017 they moved back to Gilpin County and in July of the same year, Mitch proposed at Golden Gate Canyon Park, surprising Jacque and the kids. Mitch said he felt it was important that he propose with the kids there, because moving forward they would be a family. Jacque was impressed by how he chose a traditional, on one knee in front of the family proposal, despite how many years they had known each other.

On January 29, 2019 the two were finally married at the Gilpin County Courthouse. The couple is planning a small ceremony and celebration for August this year at Panorama Point.

Jacque’s advice for anyone looking for love is, “Heal your heart so you can see the love that’s been there for you all along.” Mitch’s advice for anyone looking for love is, “Don’t look for it, just let it happen.”

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