Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
By Jon Nyatawa
More than 40 years after Tom Myers and Cathy Jones first met at Creighton’s Swanson Hall, and after they started dating, and after Tom abruptly panicked and ghosted her, and after they went two decades without seeing each other, and after they built careers and families, and after they lived a lifetime with spouses they adored … they found each other again.
This time, it was the right time.
And Tom and Cathy are so incredibly grateful that their winding personal journeys ended here, at this amazing moment. What’s even more astounding is how often, over four decades, their lives ran on parallel tracks — without either of them recognizing all their near-misses and similarities.
“It’s a great story to share, and we love to tell it,” said Cathy, BS’79.
Said Tom, BS’79: “It’s not anything either of us would've ever guessed, or anything we could have planned.”
* * *
‘Today, they call it ghosting’
Technically, this all started in 1975.
Cathy initially dated one of Tom’s friends from Swanson Hall. They met in the residence hall, stayed in touch throughout college, and eventually started their own relationship together after graduating.
Everything was going great, too. Cathy had an apartment right by the bar where Tom worked, the Mai Tai Lounge (a popular destination for Creighton folks back then). They soon started teaching in schools basically next door each other — Brownell Talbot and St. Margaret Mary’s.
Tom even admitted to a co-worker that he thought Cathy would be the one he’d eventually marry. But…
“The minute that rolled out of my mouth, I completely freaked out,” Tom said. “What I did next — today, they call it ghosting.”
Cathy was devastated. Her sister convinced her to take up stain-glass window making as a summer hobby to get her mind off the sudden breakup. She moved to Kansas City.
Cathy and Tom were done. For 20 years, they never spoke or saw each other.
* * *
The night their jaws dropped
It was a fun evening at an NP Dodge holiday party in Omaha in 2003 when Tom literally bumped into a woman who was leaning down at the event’s check-in table, trying to register.
She stood up and turned around as he started to apologize. And … oh. There they were.
“My jaw drops. Her jaw drops. I’m lucky she didn’t punch me.”
Tom and Cathy did their best to succinctly summarize their history together to their curious spouses, who were standing right there. It was an unexpected meet-up, but neither thought too much about it after that.
Until 20 years later, in 2023.
Tom had reached out to Cathy for support. His wife was dying of cancer — he’d been the primary caregiver for five years. And he’d heard that Cathy went through something similar (her husband died after a 5 1/2-year battle with cancer in 2020).
He sent her a message: Can you help?
Cathy knew exactly what he was going through. They started chatting, and encouraging each other.
“It’s a process that people who have never been through don't understand,” Cathy said. “Just the feelings and the anguish that you go through watching your spouse just melt away from cancer like this. He asked me some very personal things, and I was very upfront with how I felt. Mostly, I said, ‘don't beat yourself up. You're not the only one that feels overwhelmed and has these types of feelings.’”
Cathy’s husband, Paul Sopinksi, died on Feb. 18, 2020. Three years later, Tom’s wife, Anna, died on the same date.
An ominous connection, Tom thought.
* * *
What happens in Vegas…
Several months passed when Cathy one day started scrolling on Facebook. She saw a post from Tom about work and eventually deduced that they might be in Las Vegas at the same time.
Their birthdays are within two days of each other. So, she thought, maybe they could find time on their schedules to celebrate with a Vegas dinner?
Tom was in!
They ate dinner and saw two concerts. They started putting everything together about how much they had in common. Today, it’s almost comical how alike they are. Some examples:
- They grew up in households with multi-generational family businesses, with grandpas and dads working together.
- They lived in Kansas City at the same time. And neither knew it. They actually taught at Catholic schools within two miles of each other. Their kids were born at the same hospital.
- They were married and divorced before they met their longtime spouses.
- They grew up loving mountain life and outdoor activities.
They’ve been together since that Vegas trip.
On Feb. 14, 2025, Tom proposed to Cathy. He got down on one knee at a rodeo event. They moved into a house together in South Dakota’s Black Hills.
And as you might presume, it’s not at all difficult for either to find gratitude these days. They reflect together and often marvel at God’s purpose and plan.
Forty years ago, Tom and Cathy weren’t meant to be. And now, they’re perfect for each other.
“I don't think that we are the same people we were when we were younger,” Cathy said. “All of our experiences in life have made both of us better people, stronger, more understanding. And because of what we went through apart, that’s what connected us and brought us together.”
