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Ed and Eileen's |
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Ed and Eileen's |
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The Wedding
We came for the wedding. We had to te really see it happen to believe it. They really did it! They are really married! Everybody looked great. First, we have the happy couple and some of their families.
The GSPs It was a GSP reunion. It's amazing how well we can clean up. It was a weekend long party, with plenty of friends and beer. There was lots of fun and merriment. It was a time to catch up. For a GSP event, there weren't many kids. GSP piglet Shelby (Shelby Brook Thompson Munsterman) crashed the reception and had a great time dancing.
The Toasts Ken Bronson wrote and performed a song to celebrate the wedding: I Do, Canoe In the town of Lafayette Engineers are never known for acting in haste Late night in the library I scream, You scream It took years of flirtin' Engineering I scream Early morning she will swim Early evenings she's in bed Both of them are working for what's left of Ma Bell They'll grab a few of Ed's home brews, (I Do, Canoe lyrics Copyright © (1995) by that ukulele playin' songster, Kenzo Bronson, all rights reserved)
Ed and Eileen: The very, very, very, very abridged version - What can you say about a 15 year courtship in the time allotted for a toast? Mere words failed Renee and she needed help. So, in their first appearance away from a campfire, Renee and the Not-Ready-for-Conception Players present: ED and EILEEN: The VERY, VERY, VERY, VERY ABRIDGED VERSION A WEDDING SKIT CAST PLACARD: ED and EILEEN: The VERY, VERY, VERY, (etc.) ABRIDGED VERSION PLACARD: ACT I: THE MEETING NARRATOR: It was the Fall of 1980. Eileen Gelblat, fresh from an upbringing in the suburbs of New York City and an undergraduate degree in Physics from Cornell University, was about to enter her first graduate class in electrical engineering at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Bell Labs had made her an offer she couldn't refuse. In exchange for a summer's worth of work they would send her for a master's degree. Eileen was to discover the joys of electricity, an allergy to corn, and, unknown to her at the time, love. Enter the class consisting of a group of large males with Eileen hidden in the middle. They walk in and stand by the chairs ready to sit down. Eileen is still hidden. Ed and friend enter and stand to the side. The prof enters. PROF: Welcome class to Electrical Engineering 10111001. Please be seated. The class sits. The males sit down first so that everyone can clearly see Eileen who sits down more slowly. PROF: some random lecturing ED (grabbing his friends arm excitedly): LOOK!! ED's FRIEND: What! ED: I saw one. There's a ... GIRL! in this class. ED's FRIEND: No Way! That can't be. ED: No, I'm positive. I saw a girl. I think I'll introduce myself after the lecture. PROF: some more random lecturing: ...and that's all for today. The assignment for next time is a plan for a time warp machine. The class moans or boos the assignment. PROF: This IS a graduate class! The males in the class leave and Ed walks up the Eileen who is getting her stuff together. ED: Hi. I'm Ed. EILEEN: I'm Eileen. ED: You're new here aren't you? EILEEN: Yes, and you? ED: Oh, I've been here a while. Would you like to go out this weekend and see the sites of West Lafayette, Indiana? EILEEN: I'd like to see the sites, but I can't go out this weekend, it's Rosh Hashanna. ED (looking very puzzled): What? EILEEN: You know, observance of the Jewish New Year. ED: What? I don't know much about Jewish stuff. How can anyone keep all those foreign sounding words straight anyway? Eileen and Ed stay in the classroom setup. NARRATOR: Over the course of the next year Eileen and Ed got to know each other. But at the end of the summer of 1981... EILEEN: My one year on campus is over, I have my degree and I'm going back to Naperville to work for Bell Labs. ED: But, I have a *bit* more to go on my degree. So I will have to stay here. EILEEN: Will you visit me? ED: You *know* I will. END OF ACT I PLACARDS: ACT II: THE COURTSHIP Ed is at the Purdue side of the stage and Eileen is at the Naperville side. Throughout this act, Ed and Eileen will be walking back and forth between the 2 locations. First Eileen is seated, Ed walks to Eileen, she gets up, they hug, Ed waves goodbye, Eileen sits down and Ed walks back to Purdue. As Ed sits, Eileen gets up and the process repeats in reverse. After Eileen gets back and sits down, Ed gets up and walks over, etc. NARRATOR (let the above go for at least one cycle): Back and forth our two young lovers went Purdue to Naperville, Naperville to Purdue, Purdue to Naperville, and on and on... PLACARDS: placards with years 1982, 1985, 1988 marked on them slowly go
across. These are held below the action. Stop going back and forth. But there was more to this relationship than travel between Naperville and Purdue. There were summertime trips to West Virginia for whitewater rafting.... Ed and Eileen walk to center of stage and pretend to paddle a raft. They sit on the same side so the raft goes in circles. Then they walk back to their chairs. NARRATOR: and there were vacations to far away and exotic locations such as Hawaii. Ed and Eileen walk to the center of the stage and do a little hula dance. Then they walk back to their respective chairs and Eileen starts the back and forth the sequence again. PLACARD: 1990 goes by ED: (at the middle of stage raises one hand and proclaims): JUST ONE MORE SEMESTER!!! Ed walks to his side and back and forth walking stops. PLACARD: 1991 goes by Remove Naperville sign. Starting at Ed's side of the stage, Ed walks by (in cap and gown?) followed by the rest of the cast each carrying a book and humming "Pomp and Circumstance". The parade starts on Ed's side of the stage and they walk to the other side where someone looking official hands him a diploma looking rolled up piece of paper and an envelope. Everyone walks off the stage. PROFESSOR: Congratulations on your graduation. Here is your diploma and a letter of condemnation from the Sierra Club for destroying the forest. END OF ACT II PLACARD: ACT III: ED MOVES IN NARRATOR: Now there could be no more excuses. If the relationship was to continue, it was time for Ed to get a job, or two, and move to Naperville. Ed picks up the box with the printout and walks to Eileen. Ed puts the box on the chair and gives Eileen a big hug. Take away the Purdue sign and chair. This box has a beer mug in it that will be used later in this act. EILEEN: I'm so glad that you got the job at Bell Labs and that we're finally going to be together. ED: I'm so glad too. All that traveling was really getting to me. I just have a few things to move in. EILEEN: That's not a problem. At least not since I bought this nice big house. (Eileen looks at the box) How much stuff do you have anyway? ED: Well, I have this box... and this (let the computer printout cascade down the side of the chair) is the inventory list. EILEEN (looking horrified): OH! Well you can have the basement just make sure that I can still get down the stairs and to the washing machine. ED (calling offstage to the rest of the cast): Okay! Bring them in. We will need about 10 boxes of various sizes. The rest of the cast forms a "bucket brigade", passes the boxes in, and Ed piles them around the chair, leaving the box with the beer mug in it accessible. Eileen continues to look horrified. NARRATOR: Despite the volume of Ed's belongings, Eileen and Ed managed to find a place for everything and everything had a place, although some of it had to be stored offsite. Now there was nothing left but to discuss the "big decision." Eileen and Ed stand by the chair with the boxes. Ed takes the beer mug off the box and stares at it as if it had a very, very interesting beer in it. PLACARD: 1994 ED (still staring intently at the beer): Later EILEEN: It's VERY important. ED: Later EILEEN: You have until the end of the year. Clear the stage. Ed and Eileen remain in the middle of the stage. NARRATOR: So there they were, on vacation in Quito, Ecuador. The date was December, 31st. The time was a quarter to midnight. Little did Eileen know that Ed had made up his mind before this point but, we think for dramatic effect, he was waiting for THE right moment. Finally the right moment came and Ed uttered the words that are traditional words that had been passed down for generations in Eileen's family. ED: So you want to get married, or what? PLACARD: APPLAUSE NARRATOR: It was Eileen's acceptance of this heartfelt proposal that has brought us to this joyous day. So I would like to propose this toast. Everyone raises their glasses. NARRATOR: To Eileen and Ed, may your marriage last EVEN longer than your courtship. We finish the wine and all take our bows.
The Gifts Eileen and Ed didn't register for wedding gifts in any conventional manner. That has never stopped the GSPs. At this wedding, the GSPs arranged to give the happy couple enough place mats to keep their dinner table covered for years. The goal was to bring the tackiest placemats you could find. Walmart and the gift shops around Hico West Virginia were popular sources. Other contributions were personalized and home-made. The complete list of placemats, in excess, as only GSPs can do:
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