Reminiscing

We thought that we would reminisce a little…what has happened over the last 30 years that brings us to celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary on September 23, 2008. We start at the beginning, on a very warm September evening with about 160 guests witnessing our marriage at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. It was a magical night that included Michael Monteith walking off with Dick’s tux coat just before the service, Jan blowing bubble gum bubbles in the wedding pictures, Jan getting cold feet and having to be pushed down the aisle by the florist, Dick forgetting his “Dopp Kit” and having to double back to the Beverly Wilshire after we had made our grand exit, and no air conditioning at the hotel in Laguna Beach for our short three day honeymoon during a record-breaking heat wave. No one ever said it was going to be easy!



In spite of being told not to have children because of Jan’s back– Jan never listens and enjoys a good challenge – life changed dramatically with Rachel’s arrival and then, two years later, with the arrival of Andrew and Matthew. Known as Rachel, Andrew and Matthew’s parents from that point forward, life became a busy schedule of school, sports (gymnastics, dance, soccer, t-ball, baseball, and softball among othersk), music lessons and marching band competitions, Brownies and Girl Scouts, Tiger Cubs and Boy Scouts, religious school and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, and spending time with all the wonderful neighborhood kids who hung at our house even when Rachel, Andrew and Matthew weren’t home.

During the last 30 years, we have lived in several homes. We purchased our first house in 1979. It was on Campbell Drive in Los Angeles and was about 1,000 sq. feet, including the garage. Rachel was born in that house and it was big enough for three of us but when we discovered in 1983 there was going to be another addition (we didn’t know there were two at that time), we moved to a townhouse on 19th Street in Santa Monica. As the townhouse became a bit crowded, we decided to find a house with a backyard for a swing set. We found a house a few blocks away on 17th Street and moved right in. This was 1986. Our first item of business was purchasing the redwood swing set with the club house on top. Many happy hours of play were spent in and on that swing set. If you could not find a particular toy, tool, pot or pan or whatever else was missing from its proper place, there was a good chance you could find it in the club house. A job change for Dick took us north to Los Altos in 1991 and to the house on Valencia Drive. This is where the kids call home and where the swing set was prominent in the backyard for many years. Along came another job change for Dick and we moved to Seattle in 2004. This is as far north as we’re moving!

A quick update on the kids: Matthew graduated from Emory University in Atlanta in 2005 and is working as a media buyer for an on-line advertising company in the Bay Area. He has also kicked off his own on-line clothing company, Circular Evolution. He’s living in San Francisco with a friend from high school. Andrew also graduated in 2005, but from Claremont McKenna College in Southern California. He has been working in Washington DC but recently left his job as a legislative assistant for Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez to start law school at UC Hastings in San Francisco. Rachel is now Rachel M. Stephenson, PhD. She graduated from Pomona College in 2003 and entered UCLA as a graduate student in Physical Chemistry. She was awarded her doctorate this past June. Dr. Stephenson energizes molecules and is now applying for a post-doctorate position. Still can’t figure out where she came from……



And so, after 30 years of hard work and little time for us, we decided to take a well earned honeymoon. Sitting on the floor in the local Banes and Noble, we discovered a book on river cruises. We have never been on a cruise other than to look at whales or zip up to Victoria in British Columbia for a day. We did a little more exploring and booked a cruise up the Rhone River in France from Arles to Chalon. Before beginning the cruise, we will spend a few days in Provence and we will end it with a few days in Paris. Here’s the trip….



Happy Anniversary to us and all those who are celebrating with us!