30 years later he fell off the mat and into her heart

Quinnette James and Tony Lauderdale met through friends in 1988, when they were both students at Evanston Township High School. James was a senior (ETHS class of 1988) and Lauderdale was a sophomore (ETHS class of 1990).

“One of my good friends was dating Tony’s cousin, and we met through them,” James explains.

Although the two were close, they struggled to find time to date and get to know each other. It was Lauderdale’s extracurricular activities that kept them apart, filling his schedule with performing, TV appearances—including Late Night with David Letterman and the Oprah Winfrey Show—commercials, and traveling the world.

For 20 years, from the age of 8, Lauderdale was a famous Jesse White Tumbler, part of the performance team that amazed millions of spectators around the world with incredible jumps, somersaults and high gymnastic skills.

“The Jesse White team took up so much of our time, so after the summer of 1988, we naturally drifted apart,” Lauderdale said. After his stint as a tumbler, Lauderdale remained with the organization until 2017, serving as a volunteer, mentor and bus driver.

The two reconnected via Facebook in 2017. James was living in San Bernardino, California with her son, and Lauderdale was living in Illinois. She and Lauderdale soon spent a lot of time on the phone getting to know each other, filling in the 30-year gap with details of each other’s lives.

When Lauderdale suggested she visit James in California, she had no idea how long he planned to stay. Once he landed, he never left. Lauderdale arrived in California in November 2017 with his clothes, important documents, and a few personal items, and the two have been together ever since.

For Lauderdale, when the two rekindled their romance, he was committed to James. He had been in the music business as a rap artist (Tony Mafia), record producer and CEO of Chicago Records, but had put everything on hold after hooking up with her.