The year was 1976. It was October, nearing Halloween, and Laurie had her eye on a certain 
young man. But how would she get his attention? Ken was so reserved that it was up to Laurie to make the first move. Ahhh yes... invite him to the church Halloween party, what else?
Ken was so busy being asked to dance by Laurie's friends that he didn't even realize that she had actually invited him for herself. So, she tried again. She asked him to the school Halloween party. That one was a success. They danced to the music of Mad Dog. More importantly, they played relay games passing Lifesavers with toothpicks between their teeth and apples neck to neck! Though these activities may sound a bit sketchy, Laurie remembers that her parents liked him right from the start (maybe a little more than they liked her, she says). She liked him so much that she invited him to her 16th birthday party a month later. Ken won her over with his fabulous cooking -even in high school! She
recounts that one time he brought her over to his house and made creme puffs and chocolate chip cookies. It was a done deal from there. They just couldn't get enough of each other.
They dated throughout the rest of high school and college. "Dating" included many more activities other than the conventional dinner and a movie (though Laurie remembers going to dinner much more frequently then than they did after they were married with kids). They went bowling with "the gang" every weekend after attending the featured
high school sporting event. They ice skated every winter on Ken's pond (Laurie fondly remembers one such occasion when Ken was swinging her around and around and broke her thumb when he FINALLY let go). My favorite is that they went smelting... not once or even twice... they went smelting often, like every summer, all summer. Along with smelting, they liked to go fishing.
Six years after that first Halloween party, they were fixin' to get married.
young man. But how would she get his attention? Ken was so reserved that it was up to Laurie to make the first move. Ahhh yes... invite him to the church Halloween party, what else?Ken was so busy being asked to dance by Laurie's friends that he didn't even realize that she had actually invited him for herself. So, she tried again. She asked him to the school Halloween party. That one was a success. They danced to the music of Mad Dog. More importantly, they played relay games passing Lifesavers with toothpicks between their teeth and apples neck to neck! Though these activities may sound a bit sketchy, Laurie remembers that her parents liked him right from the start (maybe a little more than they liked her, she says). She liked him so much that she invited him to her 16th birthday party a month later. Ken won her over with his fabulous cooking -even in high school! She
recounts that one time he brought her over to his house and made creme puffs and chocolate chip cookies. It was a done deal from there. They just couldn't get enough of each other.They dated throughout the rest of high school and college. "Dating" included many more activities other than the conventional dinner and a movie (though Laurie remembers going to dinner much more frequently then than they did after they were married with kids). They went bowling with "the gang" every weekend after attending the featured
high school sporting event. They ice skated every winter on Ken's pond (Laurie fondly remembers one such occasion when Ken was swinging her around and around and broke her thumb when he FINALLY let go). My favorite is that they went smelting... not once or even twice... they went smelting often, like every summer, all summer. Along with smelting, they liked to go fishing.
Six years after that first Halloween party, they were fixin' to get married.
