Karen and Joe Get Married
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
It was about a three hour drive on the afternoon of Saturday, June 16, 2001, as Carolyn, Ashleigh, and Briana and I headed up to Grand Rapids, Ohio – not far from Bowling Green, the college town where they had first met – to attend the wedding ceremony and reception of my cousin Karen and her soon-to-be husband Joe Amstutz. We had just spent the entire previous day, and most likely some of this very day driving back from Disney World, so we were all a bit edgy, I’m sure. I recall that upon arrival, Ashleigh and Briana had gotten themselves into trouble in the car and Carolyn had them standing in the corner. I also recall that Chris’ then-girlfriend Sarah snuck a cigarette with me as we were both walking to the car to grab something. That’s pretty much all I remember. Well, except of course the wedding… Read the rest of this entry »
Although it wasn’t our first Christmas together, 2001 was the first Christmas that Carolyn and I spent as an engaged couple residing in the same house. And this meant that after a one-year hiatus, we would be hosting Christmas Eve again at our house. I was really in the Christmas spirit this particular year, having had the newly discovered It’s Christmastime All Over the World playing through the Muzak at work repeated. It took me weeks to figure out that it was Sammy Davis Jr. who was signing it, and I made sure I ordered the Christmas with the Rat Pack CD for next year. 
I have quite a few memories of the Fall of 2001, and surprisingly the attack on the World Trade Center is not at the forefront. It had been nearly a year since Carolyn and I had started dating and we were settling into a life of domestic activity. Ashleigh began school at the end of August, starting at Ferguson Middle School, which, unlike my days in the Beavercreek school system, was now housing students from 6th-8th grade. It wouldn’t be long before Ash would be getting involved in some extracurricular activities that would keep us hopping. 
Our family wrapped up its trilogy of wedding receptions at the Eagles Nest on September 29, 2001. This ‘tradition’ had begun with my wedding to Lisa in 1999, continued with my cousin Lori’s 
My Mom and her boyfriend Bob Chandler finally decided to get hitched on Saturday, September 29, 2001, at 5:00pm. It had been a long time coming. Mom and Bob met on New Years Eve, as 1989 transitioned into 1990 at the Libation Lounge. Oddly enough, my Mom thought that Bob was another guy that looked like Bob – and was also named Bob! - and denied him his first request for a dance. We will mercilessly leave out any reference to the Bobbsy Twins. After running into each other now and then and the bar, they finally had their first date about a month later.