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Introductions

Marli grew up in Grosse Pointe Woods and lived in the same house for 18 years! During her junior year of high school, she discovered that she wanted to pursue a career in the sciences while working closely with people. She knew that the health care industry was for her and, after much research of the professions of Occupational and Physical Therapy and Nursing, she went on to University of Michigan and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1991. She loves Nursing and is great at it. Her patients and their families are very lucky to have Marli's expertise at the bedside as well as her caring and empathetic attitude. Currently, she is working in the Intermediate Intensive Care Nursery at Children's Hospital of Stanford in Palo Alto, CA. She works with premature and sick term babies. She was employed at St. John Hospital of Detroit before we made the trek out to California to be together.

Stu grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, but then moved around and has lived in so many places he's really lost count.  But I'll try - there's California, New York, Missouri, Louisiana and Michigan (the great state where I met him).  He graduated with a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering, but he claims he has no idea what a diode is anymore (and neither do I).  He's more interested in Software development and has become quite good at it over the past nine years.  He was first employed with EDS, where he learned that large companies suck (in his words), and now he works for a small company (he's seen it grow from 14 employees to about 75 now).  He's mostly concentrating on Palm Pilot development (perhaps you've got one?) right now, and really loves his work.

The Meeting (From Marli)

We met in downtown Detroit at a "City Rollers" rollerblading nights on the town.blades.gif (3657 bytes)  I believe we caught each other's eye under our sunglasses on that hot mid-evening of Thursday, May 13th, 1993.  I remember thinking, "hey, that guy is HOT".  So, the group of us skated off and met some nice people - both having fun doing our own things (Stu, of course, was doing shots of Tequila with the guys at our "rest stops").  But, all the while, I noticed Stu skating near me (and around me, behind me and in front of me...).

Well, we finally arrived at BC Franklin's, a cool pub in downtown ... you know, to quench our thirst after that hard ride.   Anyway, Stu was sitting next to Sherry, getting her a drink, pulling out the chair for her and being touchy-feely with her.  Im-button-tr.gif (821 bytes) thought for sure that she was his girlfriend.   Bummer, I thought to myself.  Well, just then I got up to do something when Stu and I "accidentally" bumped into each other (I like to say we "fell" for each other").   Stu had a navy blue Michigan sweatshirt on (and for any of you who know Michigan well will know the fan's loyalty to the university) and I said to him "So, did you go to Michigan?", and he replied, "No, but I'm a big fan.".  Yeah, right, what a line.  But, Stu happened to use the best pick-up line he could have at that time in my life.  From there, it's history.  We bladed off into the sunset!  On to the Detroiter bar where we continued to hit it off - talking, having a couple of beers (Stu having a couple more - I was impressed ... yeah, right!).  Stu, being sauced up and having a good time, flattered me by opening the door to the girl's small bathroom, grabbing my arms and just plain kissing me for everyone to see - without a care in the world.  I love that about Stu, he's determined and he goes for what he wants.  That's also part of the reason why he makes such a great engineer (and home handyman) - he works hard!  So, that night we ended up talking, kissing, hugging, holding an nibbling (hey, on the ear!).

We parted with much difficulty and went our separate ways.  When I arrive home around 4am, the phone rang and I knew it was Stu.  He called to make sure that I had gotten home ok and to say goodnight.  I loved that.  But what I even loved more was the fact that Stu had left 4 messages for me while I was in Chicago that same weekend.   He was inviting me over to his place to cook dinner for me... Boy, I sure knew he was the one after that...

After the first date... (Stu's Perspective)

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After meeting in Detroit, we went to Macinac Island in upper Michigan (about two weeks later).  What a great romantic place - there's no cars allowed (but lots of horse-drawn carriages), many great restaurants, the Grand Hotel and much more to do and see.  This was our first getaway together and we had a blast.

The famous Macinac bridge (can't quite remember why) is shown in the background in this picture of us.  This is one of the first pictures we took together...

Marli and I had decided to move to California sometime in 1993, after I had been living in Michigan for five years.  I was ready for a change (got tired of working for EDS - the pay was lousy and they wanted us to wear suit coats during lunch - go figure).  California seemed the only natural place to move to, being that most of my family lived there and I had been away for so long.  Marli also wanted to make the move. 

Moving.jpg (30981 bytes)We left Detroit on February 18, 1994 to set out for a very cold and snowy trip to the West. Marli in her Acura and I in the U-haul truck with my car to a trailer, we followed each other and stopped each night in motels. It took us five days to arrive in Mountain View, CA. We have so many wonderful memories of that trip. The best thing about that trip is that we each had CB radios and could communicate very well…yes, Marli did flirt with all the truckers!

And now, five years later, we're about to be married.  Wow, what a feeling - I never thought this would happen, but Marli and I stuck with it through all the good times (and yucky times).  I'm as happy as I've ever been - happy to share my love with Marli and share my wedding with all my friends and family.  I hope you'll see the shine and love in our eyes as we dance down the walkway on this day, our wedding day...