Sitting down at Bill and Sherry Haag’s dining room table carries a sense of reverence. A warm feeling of the generations of family gathering here, a meeting place they would connect with each night.
A walk around the Haag’s home is like a museum of their life, a hat from Sherry’s dad hung by the fireplace. “It makes think of him and brings me joy” she says, “My brother and I send that hat back and forth to each other every so often. We have things from all our family all around here.”
“When we take a Christmas picture each year in front of the fireplace, I can look at it and see everyone who came before us, behind us in the photos, those not with us, still with us. It feels special and reminds me of the times that we have shared.”
It is here that she and Bill created their “circle of four,” a trademark of their close-knit union and relationship with their children from infancy until adulthood,
“We were a circle of four no matter what, we always have each other’s back” Bill adds, Sherry noting “we grew from four, but it was always still us, with room for more.”
Things started off simple.
Bill, a self-professed “got into trouble” kid, met Sherry at the Granada Theatre in South Bend Indiana where they both worked in high school.
Sherry, the Candy girl; Bill, the Chief of Service. Together in a time when the ushers wore tuxedo jackets. They enjoyed their time working together and eventually a friendship blossomed into attraction.
“I would give her rides home from work. She didn’t have a car then, and we could go to the movies and eat popcorn whenever we wanted. A perk from the job” Bill shares.
Vying for Sherry’s attention from the beginning, Bill and another usher laid a trail of popcorn from outside the movie theatre to the concession stand where she worked and held the door open. It ended up being a flock of pigeons that they claim officially introduced them, and Bill and the usher then had to get the birds back outside.
“I got fired and rehired many times at that job” Bill softly smiles.
Sherry laughs “no one expected it to last. Yet here we still are, balancing each other out and giving each other space to be who we each are and coming back together, as we have all along. It works really well, it has worked really well.”
“Opposites attract. We complement each other” adds Bill.
The Haags married June 29, 1963, and will celebrate their 61st anniversary this year.
As Bill found himself planning how to take care of his now pregnant wife without his high school diploma, he realized job options were few. The Army became the plan: Bill enlisted in November 1963.
“At the time, it was a stable way to support a family. It came with insurance, an … community of others who understood how you were living. The income was substantial back then.” Sherry said.
Over the next 21 years, the family found themselves living in Missouri, Korea, Texas, Panama, Japan, Illinois, Kentucky and Arkansas before settling in Grayling.
Bill, mostly the quiet one while Sherry is the talker, adds with appreciation
“Every re-enlistment, she stood right next to me,” Bill said. “I recognize that it took a lot for her to raise a family when I was apart from them, especially overseas for longer periods of time.”
In response, Sherry simply says “It was our circle of four. We made sure we made it work. Sometimes I would move home with my mom until Bill was back. We did whatever we had to do. I … remind the kids their upbringing wasn’t typical of other children. Not everyone got to do all the things they did or travel to the places we got to live.”
Toward the end of his career, Bill was stationed in Grayling to update the National Guard base and act as an advisor, which he did for three years. After a year and half in Germany the couple retired to Grayling in 1985.
Once dreaming of moving to Alabama for retirement, the Haags found themselves feeling anchored to Grayling.
“This is our home. Our family was close to here. It is where we will both live and will die and we love it here. We’re not going anywhere,” Sherry said.
After all that time and travel, you have to ask them, “How do you do it?”
“You just do. It’s not always going to be easy, but when you make a commitment and stay with it, it works in a way you don’t experience any other way.
“We grew up together and were dependent on each other with family far away often, we took care of each other in that,” Sherry said.
Bill added: “It’s WE not ME. If you remember that, it is WE, not ME, things are easier.”
Two were joined that would form a circle of four and the Haag’s have made that math add up to 61 so far, an incredible collection of memories and years that will last their lifetime and well beyond in the legacy they’ve created.
