Longtime educator hopes to inspire healthy relationships with new book

When it comes to selecting your life partner, never settle.

When Wendi King met her future husband, Eric, in April 2018, she was dealing with emotional fallout from previous relationships. Meeting Eric was a life-changing experience, the subject of her new book, “Don’t Settle for Prince Charming: A Queen Deserves a King.”

The book is divided into chapters that cover the 10 days before the couple’s wedding on April 14, 2020 — the second anniversary of their meeting. Each chapter includes a study guide in which the reader is asked to think about the chapter’s topic and write out how they believe it could apply to their life.

King wrote the book to tell her story and “let men and women see that healthy love is possible.”

“When I found Eric, I found my person,” she said. “I believe there is a person for each of us on this Earth. But not just any person: The one who will love you the way you deserve to be loved.”

Readers have given King enthusiastic feedback.

“The lessons you learned, growth you experienced and love you now have, I believe will challenge, encourage and inspire the masses!” A’Lynne Dukes wrote in an email.

King, a Detroit native, is a 1986 graduate of Renaissance High School and a two-time graduate of Michigan State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in education with a focus in special education and a master’s degree in educational administration.

She taught in the Lansing School District from 1991 to 2013 and then worked for 10 years at the Ingham Intermediate School District before fully retiring in December 2023. During her tenure with Lansing, she taught in a self-contained special education program at Dwight Rich Middle School. With Ingham Intermediate, she taught at Heartwood School in Mason and the Skills for Adult Independent Living program housed in the Wilson Talent Center (formerly the Capital Area Career Center). 

She moved to Holt in October 2020 after nearly 30 years in Lansing. She and her husband’s blended family of five children includes Erin, 27, a stay-at-home mom; Mike, 25, who works in the construction industry; Dedrick, 19, an artist and musician; and Chelsea and Alexa, who live in New Orleans. The couple is also “Lolli” and “Pop” to six grandchildren.

King met Eric by chance when she and a friend recognized him from a photograph. She said the relationship made her realize things could be different.

“I truly believe other women have been where I have been. Tired. Hurt. Wanting more but not believing it was possible,” she said. “That means other women might realize, like I did, that sometimes we can be our biggest obstacle. 

“Trusting and having faith is hard!” she continued. “But it’s key to healing. At least it was for me. After I found what I share with Eric, my daily prayer was that every person on this planet could find their person. If we could all feel this love, certainly this world would be better. One relationship, marriage, family at a time.”