Widow opens up about how she found love with her late husband’s best friend

A widow has revealed how she found love again in someone who had been there all along, as she says her and her late husband’s best friends are ‘soulmates.’ 

Susan Mounce, 69, from Hewitt, Texas, was married to her high school sweetheart Tom Lucenay for four decades. But when Tom suddenly died in 2015 aged 64, she was heartbroken and struggled to pick up the pieces. 

She spent six weeks jetting around the world and learning about herself, and was ready to open herself up to love again. 

Despite being on dating apps, Susan found true love with Tom’s best friend Mike, 71. And while the two had been close pals for 50 years, after Tom’s death, they began to see each other differently, and ultimately fell in love. 

Susan Mounce, from Hewitt, Texas,has revealed how she found love again in someone who had been there all along, with her late husband’s best friends Mike (pictured)

Susan was married to her high school sweetheart Tom (pictured with Susan in high school) for four decades

They were married for four decades and had three children together before Tom passed away (Tom pictured with their three daughters)

Despite being on dating apps, Susan found true love with Tom’s best friend Mike

Speaking to Today, Susan and Mike revealed how their journey led them to each other. 

After Tom passed away, Susan decided to focus on creating a new ‘chapter’ of her life and decided to travel the world to find a new sense of independence. 

When she returned, her daughter Bridget encouraged her to join dating apps and open her heart back up to love. 

She set up a dating profile but was still focusing on keeping Tom’s memory alive. However, when a sweet DIY project that Tom had spent so much time working on was destroyed, Susan was once again ‘heartbroken’ 

Susan and Tom lived in a family home in Texas with their three children. 

From the day they moved into the home, Tom worked to build a pond for the children to play. 

The pond became a ‘memorial’ for Tom after he passed, but when Susan returned from traveling around the world and fond the pond was gone, she turned to Mike for help. 

Mike had been Tom’s lifelong best friend. He himself had been married and divorced twice but had been in Tom and Susan’s weeding long ago. 

After Tom passed away, Susan decided to focus on creating a new ‘chapter’ of her life and decided to travel the world to find a new sense of independence (Susan, Tom and their three children pictured)

When she returned, her daughter Bridget encouraged her to join dating apps and open her heart back up to love

She set up a dating profile but was still focusing on keeping Tom’s memory alive (Tom and Mike pictured when they were teens)

When the pond her children loved to play at and that Tom built was destroyed, she called Mike to help

When Mike received a phone call from Susan pleading him to help her re-build the pond, he was quick to come to the rescue

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Tom attended Robinson High School and graduated in 1969 and joined the Texas National Guard in 1969 and served in the Army Airborne National Guard in the 143D Infantry that same year. 

He was honorably discharged in 1975, according to his obituary. 

Just three years after graduating, Tom and Susan tied the knot. Tom went on to graduate from Baylor and later became a firefighter. 

Susan and Tom spent a loving 43 years together before Tom passed, and while his death was tragic, it brought Mike and Susan together. 

When Mike received a phone call from Susan pleading him to help her re-build the pond, he was quick to come to the rescue. 

After fixing the pond, Mike and Susan grew closer to each other and were soon spending ‘three to four hours’ talking to each other. 

Soon enough, Mike was seeing Susan in a new light and referring to her as the ‘most beautiful woman’ he had ever laid eyes on

After fixing the pond, Mike and Susan (pictured traveling) grew closer to each other and were soon spending ‘three to four hours’ talking to each other 

And while they were head over heels for each other, they never forgot about the person who brought them together (Susan and Tom pictured on their wedding day)

And while they once only saw each other as ‘best friends,’ their view soon shifted. 

Soon enough, Mike was seeing Susan in a new light and referring to her as the ‘most beautiful woman’ he had ever laid eyes on. 

‘It’s like we were meeting again and I was seeing her different,’ Mike told Today. 

And Susan felt exactly the same way. 

The two began dating and quickly became inseparable. 

And while they were head over heels for each other, they never forgot about the person who brought them together. 

‘We are never separate from Tom, he is always in the room,’ Mike said of his lifelong buddy.  

 In February 2020, Susan and Mike tied the knot with their friends and family surrounding them

 And their love wasn’t just clear to them, their entire family couldn’t help but notice how smitten they were

The lovebirds couldn’t believe they found love after so much pain, as Mike revealed that Susan and him ‘complete’ each other, before adding that his new wife ‘healed’ him

And their love wasn’t just clear to them, their entire family couldn’t help but notice how smitten they were. 

Chelsea Jefferson, Mike’s daughter,  was overjoyed when Susan and Mike began a romance with each other. 

She was relieved her father was able to get a ‘second chance at life’ and ‘enjoy’ himself again. 

In February 2020, Susan and Mike tied the knot with their friends and family surrounding them. 

The lovebirds couldn’t believe they found love after so much pain, as Mike revealed that Susan and him ‘complete’ each other, before adding that his new wife ‘healed’ him.  

Referring to each other as their ‘soulmate’ while hand-in-hand Susan and Mike explained that they had found a type of ‘joy’ that is ‘beyond happiness’ within each other.