A Second Chance at Love: High school sweethearts reignite romance after decades apart

Gene and Sherry Crippen dated throughout their teenage years but lost touch for 26 years following a breakup in college. After a chance encounter, they reunited and were married in 1991.

Photo by Aaron Eisenhauer

In Gene and Sherry Crippen’s living room, there are no single-seat chairs. The smallest chair present is a chair and a half, which Gene says he bought for the purpose of being “really close” to Sherry. The childhood sweethearts simply do not want to spend a moment apart after spending decades apart following their break-up during college. In 1990, the Crippens got an unexpected second chance at love, and in October 2021, they celebrated 30 years of marriage.

When Gene was 11 years old and Sherry was 10, they met for the first time at a double-feature matinee in their hometown of Cairo, Ill. Days before this, Gene was pitching at a softball game when he saw Sherry walking across the street with her ponytail swinging back and forth.

“She was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. I watched, and I watched, and I watched,” Gene says. “The catcher threw the ball back at me, and it hit me in the shoulder, ‘cause I wasn’t [paying attention].”

At the theater, Gene sat behind Sherry and proceeded to pull her ponytail multiple times throughout the night. Annoyed, Sherry turned around, and Gene recalls saying, “I’ve always wanted to see what’s under a pony’s tail.” The pickup line must have worked, because the couple dated for almost nine years after that night.

Gene and Sherry Crippen in a photo taken before a dance in Cairo, Ill., where the two grew up. Sherry says their relationship now is "totally different" from their relationship in high school.

Submitted photo

The couple talked of getting married after earning their college degrees. Gene got a scholarship to play basketball at a small college in Tennessee, and Sherry went to a two-year lab school in St. Louis. They communicated through letters while apart, because phone calls were too expensive.

During Gene’s second year of college, he drove to St. Louis and took Sherry to watch the new John Wayne film “The Sons of Katie Elder” at a drive-in theater.

“Without saying the words, we knew it was over, because we watched the entire movie,” Gene says. “I took her back to her dorm room [and] kissed her goodnight. We never said the words. Then, I didn’t see or talk to her for 26 years.”

Sherry got married to someone else shortly after college, and Gene got married a few years later. Gene says he avoided high school reunions because he was tired of being asked about Sherry and didn’t want to risk running into her husband.

Despite being apart, both Gene and Sherry thought about each other often. Sherry says she “always wondered where he was and what he was doing.” Gene says he “thought about Sherry all the time,” especially when he saw a movie with someone dancing. As high school sweethearts, the couple danced wherever there was a jukebox — from dance halls to laundromats. During those decades apart, Gene says he wished to dance with her again.

By 1988, Gene was divorced, and by 1989, Sherry was also divorced. About one year later, the two met unexpectedly at the West Park Mall in Cape Girardeau.

Gene says he had never been to the West Park Mall before and was looking around when someone suddenly grabbed him from behind. When he turned around, Gene could not believe his eyes. It was Sherry.

Afterwards, the two began meeting in public places to get lunch, catch up and talk.

“We weren’t dating [when we met after all those years],” Sherry says. “Instead, we were becoming best friends. We enjoyed each other’s company, and we didn’t as much in high school because we argued a lot.”

After becoming best friends, Gene and Sherry got married Oct. 25, 1991.

“I just wanted to hurry up and marry her,” Gene says. “I thought if I get one year with her, I’ll be lucky.”

Gene and Sherry Crippen were married in October of 1991 after spending 26 years apart. The two reunited in a chance encounter at West Park Mall in 1990.

Submitted photo

In the 30 years since, Gene says they have “made up for lost time” by renewing their vows five years into their marriage, hosting a vow renewal party in Cairo, taking boat excursions, traveling across Canada by train and most of all, dancing.

The couple has danced at functions across the country and especially enjoys the Shag, a Southern form of dance originating from the Carolinas.

Sherry says their relationship is “totally different” from their relationship in high school, which Gene attributes to maturity and what he believes to be the “three secrets to a good marriage.”

“No. 1, she’s my best friend. Your spouse has to be your friend that you can talk to about anything. No. 2, I don’t have a man cave. I want to be with her all the time,” Gene says.

Third, and most importantly, Gene says to “never go to bed with something between [each other].” If the Crippens are in the midst of an argument or misunderstanding, they will talk it out before going to sleep, even if that means staying up until 3 a.m. and going to work at 6 a.m.

“I’ve never had anybody love me like [Gene] does. I’ve never experienced anything like that,” Sherry says. “God is first in his life, and I’m second. He also loves my kids just like they were his own.”

After rekindling their relationship, the high school sweethearts have danced as best friends for 30 years, and outside their front door, there is evidence of this in the form of an engraved, decorative rock. The rock features a pair of dancers that represent the Crippens and the ways their marriage is still rockin’ all these years later.