Margie Wherritt and Jo Ericksen found themselves caught in the crosshairs of Cupid’s bow one fateful day in Minnesota.

“We met at a community volunteer event and the rest is history!” they wrote. “(Jo) was getting her master's degree in marriage and family therapy, and I was working for a nonprofit lobbying for Minnesota dairy farmers.”

Thirty-five years later, the lovebirds are inseparable.They've built a beautiful family and raised three children in an environment of love and acceptance. Jo says her favorite things about her valentine are that “she’s willing to compromise, she’s funny, she makes me laugh every day and she really cares about people.”

Margie wrote, “Jo makes me smile and laugh! She’s very loyal and steadfast, and very giving. We like the same things, like reading, volunteering, the outdoors, camping, traveling.”

The Red Cross disaster responders share similar interests but bring different skillsets to the table of emergency preparedness in Montana. Jo is a retired nurse practitioner while Margie worked as an information and referral specialist for people with disabilities.

“She can do her health and mental health services, and I can do the casework with her,” Margie wrote.

Teamwork certainly makes the dream work when it comes to this power couple; they’re lovingly dubbed “the Red Cross twofers” and have deployed nationally together multiple times.

“We find each Red Cross experience unique and never tire from volunteering,” Margie wrote.

The Flathead County couple has a long history of using their time and talents to help local communities, but their love boat would eventually set sail toward the open shores of the Red Cross.

“(The Coast Guard) didn’t have the appreciation and feeling of giving to others as the Red Cross,” they wrote. (We) received trainings, recognition and it fulfilled our need to help relieve suffering of those in disasters.”

They’re professionals in providing compassionate care; Margie and Jo know firsthand how it feels to be powerless after experiencing an emergency where the Red Cross stepped in to support displaced residents.

“We ourselves got stuck in a flood in a campground, were transported to a Red Cross shelter in town, and were very impressed. That did it for us!” they said.

The couple gives this advice to lovebirds, old and new: "Acceptance. Let each other be their own person, yet share fun things together. Communication is key, accepting challenge and growing from it.”