It was a hot sticky day when I got off the plane in Chicago in July of 1995. One of Tony's friends and his fiance had moved into a house, and they were looking for someone to live in the basement. So, I had cheap housing when I came out. Pretty soon, we were spending most of our time in my place, since Tony had to share his apartment with his roommate. After 2 months, we decided that we needed to move into one place.

So, our search for an affordable place began. 2 months later, we got lucky and found a 2 bedroom house. Now our biggest dilemma was how to move in together and not offend our parents. Both of our parents are pastor/nurse pairings, and both would be against living together before marriage.

So, we did what we felt was the logical thing and went to the courthouse in St. Joseph, MI and got married! Tony's roommate Don and his girlfriend Carla stood as witnesses for us on December 1, 1995. Both of our parents were shocked when they found out - Tony's parents found out when they tried to call him and found out the phone was disconnected on December 1. My parents took it harder than his did, but they both eventually accepted it. However, my parents insisted that we have a wedding. So, the planning began...

This page was last modified : November 18, 2004