FOLEY, Ala. — Barrie Nichols and David Ross, residents of GlenLakes in Foley, advanced to the quarter-finals in the America’s Favorite Couple competition. Although they fell short of the $20,000 winners’ prize, they finished in the top one percent of the 50,000 couples nationwide competing for it.
“There are thousands of couples across the country competing, so this milestone is incredibly special to us,” Nichols said.
Seven Rounds
“We’ve made it through seven rounds, and we truly couldn’t have done it without the encouragement, shares, and kind words,” Nichols said. “They meant more than you know. Thank you for believing in us and being part of this unforgettable journey.”
Competitions of this format advance couples by public voting across successive rounds, which means reaching a seventh round is substantially a measure of how broadly a story travels through a community and a network. For a couple in a Baldwin County retirement community to place in the top one percent of a 50,000-entrant national field reflects a good deal of local mobilization.
The Story Behind It
“What made this journey especially meaningful is our story,” Nichols said. “After both experiencing tremendous personal loss, we found each other at 61 years old and discovered that it’s never too late for a second chance at love.”
“We hope our story reminds others that hope, healing, and happiness can be found when you least expect it,” she added.
Ross is a retired special needs high school teacher whose wife died after 29 years of dialysis.
Nichols, who owns a marketing and branding collective, lost her fiancé, who was shot and killed.
“I think we had both given up hope, but we found each other on FB dating,” Nichols said. “One month after meeting, he proposed and six months later we were married. I think it gives hope to others that no matter what your struggles, you can find happiness.”
A Fast Courtship
The two met through Facebook Dating and, by Nichols’s account, met in person the evening following their first conversation.
“One month later, David surprised me at the Pensacola Airport, dropped to one knee, and proposed,” Nichols said. “Six months after we met, we were married. Our love story proves it’s never too late to find your soulmate and begin your happily ever after.”
They married on the beach in Orange Beach, surrounded by their blended families, and have been married for a year.
Local Connections
A South Baldwin resident for seven years, Nichols is also a founding member of the Maidens of Mischief Mardi Gras Krewe.
Krewe membership is a meaningful marker of local integration on the Alabama Gulf Coast, where Mardi Gras organizations are among the primary social institutions and a founding member is, by definition, someone who arrived and built something rather than simply joining.
‘Every Day We Are Together’
After years of loss, caregiving and putting others first, the couple say they found each other and realized true love can come when least expected.
“Every day we are together is our favorite memory,” Nichols said. “Whether we’re traveling, laughing, dancing in the kitchen, or caring together for my 83-year-old mother, we’ve learned our greatest joy is sharing our life with your best friend.”
That last detail — caring together for an 83-year-old parent — is the one that gives the rest of the story its weight. Both had spent years as caregivers before meeting, and they are doing it again together.