Cancer has made life hell for Chris Valentine and Sheri Ratcliff.
Perhaps it’s fitting, Ratcliff said, that it’s now brought them together.
Valentine and Ratcliff were married Sunday afternoon, in front of a small gathering of family and friends at Iola’s John S. Bass Community Center.
The ceremony — heck, the whole relationship — has been a godsend, said Valentine.
“The last couple of years have been pretty rough,” he said.
For both of them.
Sheri lost her husband, James, in 2015, following a lengthy battle with cancer.
Chris, meanwhile, first had throat cancer, then that of the prostate.
In between, a bowel obstruction led to sepsis a year ago.
“They almost lost me then,” he said.
With those cancers in his rear view mirror, Chris now must contend with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, “and the doctors found a couple of cysts on my kidneys want they want take a look at,” he said.
HELPING Chris through his struggles is Sherri, a lifelong friend who reconnected following her husband’s death.
“Chris was actually my manager at Walmart, and I told him about my husband dying,” she said.
They leaned on each other for support until Chris worked up the gumption to invite Sheri out for a cup of coffee.
He remembers it well.
