Dan Haglund
Cheryl and John Waters’ story is a tale of great travel adventures, love for one another, and service to this country.

They have traveled to nearly all Canadian provinces and U.S. states on a motorcycle together. They’ve ridden more than 60,000 miles out in the open air, through mountains and plains and deserts. Their bike journeys have taken them from Alaska to Newfoundland to Florida, and nearly all points in between.

Both originally born and raised in Illinois, the rural Emerado, N.D., transplants have been here now for nearly four decades.

And their courtship was fast and serious.

“I went into the Air Force in 1985, went through basic training and then went back home after tech school for a week or two,” said Cheryl. “My cousin and I went out, and he was at a park, and I saw him and ran up to him and said, ‘I’m a jet engine mechanic in the Air Force, top that!’ And then he said something back, and I said, ‘that’s, mine (speaking of John).’ People thought we were going out for months and it was just two hours.”

John has his own version of the same story. “It was Sunday that I met her,” he said. “Me and a buddy (Ephraim Gonzalez) were in the Guard together, and we were at this place called St. Joe’s Picnic. Not a lot was going on there, so we were walking out and in pulls this Camaro this blonde and Cheryl.”

It turned out, Ephraim already knew her cousin.

“So he starts talking to her,” said John. “I walked around the car and said hi to Cheryl. She says, ‘I’m a jet engine mechanic in the United States Air Force. Top that,’ ‘I’m a combat engineer in the Illinois National Guard, top that.’ Next thing you know they followed us to a carnival in Rockdale. And that was pretty much what started the whole thing.”

Cheryl recounts their first dance to Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”

Six days later Cheryl went to North Dakota. “John asked what I wanted for Christmas,” Cheryl said. “And I said, ‘You in North Dakota’ so he made it happen.”

John moved to North Dakota in December 1985 after meeting Cheryl three months earlier. They married in August of the next year.

The couple eventually moved to Emerado and Cheryl worked at the nearby Grand Forks Air Force Base as a jet engine mechanic working on the B-1 bombers. Cheryl said she and the other four female mechanics faced some resistance from the men working alongside them. “The guys didn’t want us there at all,” she said. A trainer tried to throw her off by training her incorrectly, and eventually Quality Assurance corrected the issue and she remained a mechanic.

And the past 38 years has been a whirlwind of ups and downs, great adventures, numerous occupations and volunteering opportunities.

The Waters have a son, Heath, 36, who works the difficult job of processing bison meat for a market in New Rockford, N.D. They also have three granddaughters.

Cheryl still works after retiring twice, she said. “I was medically retired from the Air Force, having pain and seizures in 1994.” She stayed home for 10 years and home-schooled Heath from sixth to eighth grade. “And then the principal asked if I wanted a job,” she said. “And I went over and worked as a para for Emerado for 11 years, decided I wanted to be a teacher at 45. Went and got my degree in 18 months because that’s how much (John’s) G.I. Bill paid for. So I fast tracked it online. And then worked at Emerado for another nine years, and retired in May.”

Now both Cheryl and John substitute teach.

But John originally had other ideas for his retirementfrom the military, which included overseas deploymentsto Kosovo and Afghanistan.

“When I told her I was thinking about retiring, she asked well, what are you going to do?” John said. “I said, well I want to stay home and ride motorcycle. And she said that ain’t gonna work.” Cheryl talked him into subbing also.

John now enjoys subbing at both Emerado and on the Air Force base.

John recalls when Cheryl made the decision to become a teacher as well.

“Cheryl called me while I was deployed to Kosovoand she said, ‘I think I know what I want to do.'” John said. “I said, “what’s that?’ ‘I want to be a teacher.’I laughed and said you would be the oldest newest teacher. So I transferred two years of my G.I. Bill toher. She did four years (of education) in two years, all online. Even writing her papers while we did a three week ride to and from Alaska. She is a dedicated woman.”

Anyone can see the devotion this couple has to one another. And their caring and giving personalities carry over into their volunteer lives as well. They are both active with the American Legion Riders.

Cheryl has volunteered for a few years at the food pantry as well.

John serves as commander of the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association of North Dakota (CVMA). He has been front and center of many charitable events with this group. He volunteers to give rides to disabled veterans as well. Cheryl is in charge of the big Christmas events at various veterans homes where gift bags are distributed to the vets.

“(The veterans) are so sweet,” Cheryl said. “Sometimes they’ll get you in their room won’t want you to go out. So they trap me in there, they get the wheelchair in the way. They show me their pictures and come looking for me.”

John gushes about Cheryl.

“My wife is an amazing woman,” said John. “It’s hard for her to talk about herself. I think we have been married so long is because we both been in the military and work with each other on problems and issues together.”

“Cheryl has been and National Guard airman, home school teacher, para-professional, teacher and robotics instructor. And she seems to take care of me,” said John. “She has been my rock as always, but since back from Afghanistan (in 2010) she has helped me the most. I’m sure she has been frustrated with me. But she’s always got my back.”

We salute you, John and Cheryl – for your service in the military, as volunteers, as teachers and to one another.