Mike W. Bryant
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 27/01) - Cheryl Wyatt was simply looking for a roommate when she submitted a classified ad to News/North, way back in February 1987.

Never did she suspect the caller who answered it would turn out to be her future fiancee.

The happy couple -- Cheryl Wyatt and Gary Hamilton's stars crossed one winter day in 1987, when Wyatt submitted an ad to News/North looking for a roommate. - photo courtesy of Cheryl Wyatt

After 14 years of romance, Wyatt and her beau, Gary Hamilton, who now live in Calgary, will finally be tying the knot in August 2002.

They thought it would be a lark to ask Northern News Services to find the original ad that brought them together. They plan to enlarge and reproduce the ad for their guests' sign-up sheet at their wedding.

Of course, not only did we want to help the couple out, we wanted to hear their story as well.

"He was at his buddy's house across the road when he called and he was half-intoxicated," recalls Wyatt with a chuckle. "So it was a good first impression right away."

Hamilton moved into her Gitzel Street apartment the following March and the pursuit began in earnest.

Despite her initial reservations, Wyatt said she selected him as her new roommate because she was growing tired of the squeamish newcomers to the North who would move out as soon as the temperature dipped below zero. Hamilton, she thought, was at least well accustomed to the local climate.

"Gary tried diligently for eight months for me to go out with him," recalls Wyatt.

"He got me up one night and knocked on my door, and this time, he was totally intoxicated. He said, 'I think I'm falling in love with you and I'm volunteering to be your boyfriend.'"

The romantic mood was further set when the power went out. Hamilton used this window of opportunity to light candles and fix drinks.

"He gave me 10 ounces of Kahlua in a 12-ounce glass and then he passed out," remembers Wyatt.

"The next morning, as I was leaving for work, he said, 'Please think about what I said last night,' and I said to myself, 'Shoot, he remembered.'"

Eventually, Wyatt relented, and by October, they were an item. They moved to Calgary the following year.

This year, Hamilton finally got around to asking Wyatt to marry him.

"He's a procrastinator extraordinaire," Wyatt laughs.

"You wouldn't have thought so when he was trying to get me to go out with him."