Assignment 1

CELEBRATING IN SILVER

25 YEARS OF WEDDED BLISS

MEGAN E. STUTTLE

09/13/2009

DRYDEN, NY—With divorce and separation rates on the rise in the United States, it is difficult to imagine a married couple who can make it through the tangles and turmoil that a marriage may bring. According to divorcerate.org, an alleged 50% of marriages in America end in divorce, leaving the rest of the 50% something to be proud of and to celebrate when their love is able to conquer all.

Nobody knows this feeling of happiness through longevity in the bonds of marriage better than high school and college sweethearts, Krista and Lee Stuttle of Dryden, New York.

Krista and Lee held an extravagant party celebrating their silver anniversary on Saturday, September 12th at their home located in the country of the small town of Dryden, New York. The back deck was decorated in silver, heart-shaped balloons that had the number “25” scripted in gold. There was a large tent adjacent to the deck which hovered over a large, banquet-like table that held several silver serving platters, dishes, and crock pots filled with appetizers and food for the sixty plus guests consisting of family and friends who were invited to the festivity, including several of the original wedding party. Inside the garage, the refrigerator was filled to the max with beverages for the adults, including several boxes of wine and cases of beer; a sure sign that this celebration was going to be one for the books. Upstairs, champagne bottles lined the table in the kitchen, along with plastic ware and plates. With everything decorated and set up, the couple was eager for their guests to begin arriving. “It’s party day, it’s party day!” exclaimed Krista several times throughout the morning, accompanying her excitement with a celebratory dance that can be described as her throwing her arms in the air and jumping around in circles. As this was being witnessed by her two sons and only daughter, Lee walked in holding one of the first celebratory beers in his hand. “Looks like dad is already starting the party,” declared Bryant, the youngest of the three children.

Around three o’ clock, guests began arriving, bringing with them gifts, food, and more alcohol in the form of jello shots, bottles of wine, and even more champagne. Lee’s mother, Linda, brought a cake: a three layer carrot cake made from scratch with cream cheese icing decorated to perfection with three white roses adorning the top. “It is so beautiful,” gasped Krista, with tears in her eyes; she was not expecting her mother-in-law to go so above and beyond for the occasion. The cake was not the only aspect of the party that was to be nearly duplicated from the wedding, however; the couple had a few more surprises for their guests throughout the evening.

Lee Stuttle and Krista Barron met in 1979. Both were just young adults in High School. Although Krista was a year ahead in school, they shared the same group of friends and dated casually a couple times. After Krista graduated 1981, they became an exclusive couple and were engaged two years later in August of 1983. The wedding date was set for a little over a year later on September 15, 1984 at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church in their hometown of Dryden, New York, where they still reside today. The ceremony was held at 11:00 AM and consisted of around two hundred guests and a rather small wedding party of five bridesmaids and five groomsmen, including the maid of honor, Krista’s younger sister, Amy, and best man, Lee’s best friend from college, Mason. The couple honeymooned in Oahu, Hawaii for eleven days and San Francisco, California for an additional three days after the reception, which was held at the Holiday Inn in Cortland, New York where the couple celebrated their new vows with family and friends, just as on this day, twenty five years later.

The party is just getting started, with everybody drinking and having an amazing time visiting with each other. Photos were being taken, food was being consumed, and everybody was enjoying the merriment of this specific occasion of the celebration of love and devotion that two of their loved ones share. “This is more fun than the actual wedding!” exclaims Krista’s mother, Sally, as she takes down another jello shot. Then the attention shifted to the sliding glass door leading from the house out onto the deck as Karen, Lee’s sister and one of the original bridesmaids in the wedding, emerged, wearing her original bridesmaids dress from twenty five years ago, a comical sight due to the fact that it was only halfway zipped in the back. “I was only fifteen when I wore this!” she defended herself, as Krista then emerged in her original wedding gown, fitted perfectly, with her father, Harry Barron, linked to her arm. He walked her down the set of steps onto the second landing of the deck where Lee awaited his bride.

What followed after this very brief imitation ceremony could only be described as a very quick, mock version of the reception, with all the nuts and bolts included. First came the removal of the garter, a ritual that, twenty five years and three children later, seems a bit awkward to witness with said children looking on, clearly unimpressed, yet unsurprised by their parents’ actions. Next came the throwing of the bouquet, which was caught by Kim Chase, a recent divorce and the only grown woman standing among the young nieces of Krista’s. The throwing of the garter was one ritual that was left out due to the lack of single, adult males within the crowd, but the garter was instead wrapped around Lee’s head and then eventually his bicep as time passed throughout the night (and as more alcohol was consumed). The bride and groom then cut the cake with the original engraved knife from their reception and exchanged pieces, feeding each other, all attention on them. “This is my day,” Krista had stated earlier, and she wasn’t kidding; the attention of the entire afternoon and evening was consumed entirely by her as well as her husband.

“After twenty five years, it is amazing that you still like each other, let alone love each other,” stated a long time friend of Krista’s, Kim Chase. This love that Kim addresses is shown between the couple throughout the party with the fun that they had with each other. As everybody raises their plastic cups filled with Asti for a toast, Krista reaffirms this love for her husband by stating, “Twenty-five years ago we sent out wedding invitations that said, today I marry my best friend… I never thought that that could ever be more true than it is today. You are still my best friend and I love you.” And with a tearful and heartfelt cheers by the rest of the guests before the party resumes to more dancing, conversing, and jello shots, everybody is left with hope that love can conquer all, and that we can have a whole lot of fun in the process. Now only one question is left, and it is asked by both the bride and groom, how will they top this party twenty five years from now for the celebration of the golden anniversary? Well, the answer is quite simple; it will have to be left up to their kids to throw them a bigger and better celebration next time!