On The Cover: Destiny’s set-up
It’s almost out of a movie — two moms put their heads together and set up their children.
But so begins the real life love story of Natalie and Jim Cantrell of Alanson.
“Our mothers work together, and we were both single at the time. Our mothers conspired and shared our phone numbers,” Natalie said.
The pair had never met before, but they weren’t completely unknown to each other. Jim had seen Natalie around town. Natalie knew Jim’s younger brother through her work at Littlefield schools, and had mutual friends with his older siblings — but she didn’t put it together that he was one of those Cantrells. He gave her a call.
“I asked her if she liked football, and she said yes,” Jim recalled.
“And I didn’t,” Natalie said with a laugh.
But it didn’t matter, as the game wasn’t what kept their interest that first date — it was a connection.
Natalie said she was excited at the end and happily surprised at how easy it was to talk to Jim.
“We had a lot to talk about, and a lot more in common than we realized, I think,” she noted.
It was about a month after that first date that Jim invited Natalie out with his friends after the Littlefield-Alanson Fire Department’s Christmas party. It was the night of their first “I love you,” and the night that Natalie knew Jim was the one for her. She couldn’t quite put into words how she knew, but “There are times you find yourself thinking about that person and have butterflies in your stomach.”
It was about a bit more than a year before the proposal — and a cover-up — came.
“I lied to her,” Jim deadpanned.
He told Natalie that he was going downstate to help his brother and sister-in-law hang drywall. Instead, he was on a mission to buy a ring.
Natalie was unaware of his intentions, further convinced when Jim’s sister-in-law called her to talk about the construction.
“She thanked me for letting him come down to help — shenanigans, I tell you,” she said.
Only a few days passed before Jim proposed.
“(The ring) was obviously burning a hole in my pocket,” Jim said.
The couple was engaged in February 2010. Natalie said she was trying to take a nap before they both had to head out to work meetings, when she felt Jim nudging her awake.
“‘Hey, wake up,’” Natalie quoted, her voiced hushed. “And then he just asked. ‘Hey, will you marry me?’”
The Aug. 28, 2010, wedding was planned around the annual visit north by Natalie’s grandparents. The Cantrells were married at the United Methodist Church in Petoskey, with the reception at Holy Childhood community center in Harbor Springs.
The pair has supported each other during important moments — Jim earning the position of fire captain and Natalie leading the varsity volleyball team to a district win. Both cheer on Jim’s children at sporting ventures — 5-year-old J.D. claims he’ll play T-ball for the Detroit Tigers, and 8-year-old Alyvia plays on the soccer team.
Maintaining a sense of family is part of what each admires about the other.
“Jim is a tremendous father, but he also puts others first always. And his family is very important to him,” Natalie said.
Jim added, “She’s caring, loving, and she also puts people way in front of herself ... And she loves my kids, and that’s really important to me.”
Up North Bride Home » Fall 2011 Edition » On The Cover: Destiny’s set-up