Their relationship started with a coincidence. David Norcross and his family were moving from New Jersey, headed south to North Carolina in the hopes of finding a good piece of property and building a home. On the way, they took a turn to get some gas and immediately fell in love. Bedford, Virginia, was a small town with a nice community and a beautiful view of the mountains, and the Norcross family decided they would set down roots there instead. David went to a local private school, and there, one grade ahead of him, he met the love of his life, Teresa.
Years later, when David was 16, he asked her out. At the time, he didn’t go to church, and Teresa took exception to that.
“She said, ‘Well, if you want to see me, you’re going to have to go to church,’ so I started going to church with her,” David said. “It was through that that I grew in my own faith.”
Teresa was the only girl David had ever dated. The Christmas of 1979, right after he graduated high school, he asked her to marry him. Eight months later, they were married.
David and Teresa Norcross moved into a brand new home and three years later started expanding their family. Teresa became a stay-at-home mom with their two children, David found a successful career in sales, and Teresa said they hope that one day they hold hands and go off into the sunset.
“It sounds a lot like a fairytale, and I guess it is really, but it’s not been easy,” David said. “We have our struggles — we have our arguments just like any other married couple.”
When they were first married and both working, each made just over $5 an hour. After Teresa quit her job to stay with their kids, their income was halved. Money was tight at times — at one point, they only had $7 in their checking account — but they believe that was one of the best decisions they made for their family. As David changed careers into sales, Teresa said there was a whole new kind of financial stress when he came home without a commission.
“I had to learn to be supportive and secretly sweating bullets,” Teresa said.
Teresa, David said, was the backbone of his success as a professional. Even when he made mistakes, she was there to help.
“She tried to help me clean them up, and it’s because of that that I’m a success,” David said. “[She] was always supportive — always stood beside me.”
The Norcrosses have dealt with health problems as well, as David had a heart attack in his 40s. Still, their support for each other has carried them through. In particular, Teresa said, David made sure that she was supported in case something happened to him.
“We weren’t sure what kind of health complications would come along with that, so my mom and dad had a lot next door to them, and we asked them if we could build a house there,” Teresa said. “David did that for me.”
Their mutual support, commitment, and faith have been a foundation for their marriage, leading them through times of both stress and grief. Not once have they considered quitting as an option, David said, even when they’ve fought.
“We were never going to quit on one another,” David said. “No matter what kind of struggles we face, there was no quitting.”
Through all of those trials David and Teresa have grown closer together and more alike, no longer two people from vastly different cultural backgrounds. Now, as David nears retirement, they have the same goal: to spend the rest of their life taking care of their little house and four acres of land, and having a good Christmas for their kids and grandkids.
“We have no desire to travel the world,” Teresa said. “This is where we’re going to be.”
It may have started with pulling off at an exit for gas, but the couple’s love and connection is no coincidence. It was built intentionally through many trials and successes.
“My dad always taught me ‘nothing worthwhile is ever easy,’ and that’s the truth,” David said. “There’s never been anything more worthwhile than our life together.”
