The All-New American Gothic
A personal page dedicated to the women in my everyday life.
Off to the right, you'll see a picture of the two cutest ladies around! My darling wife Emily, and our pet chihuahua Maggie. Emily and I met in 1998 while working for the same company. We both worked for The Wall, a record store chain based mainly on the east coast. Emily had just transferred to a Buffalo location since she had decided to go back to school at the University of Buffalo. The mall we worked at in Buffalo, NY had 2 locations, for your shopping convenience, and we struck up a quick friendship, after discovering we had a lot of similar interests. Though we started to spend more time together, going to the movies, and out for drinks, we didn't start to date officially (by my count anyway) until February of 1999. By that time I had already been accepted at Al Collins Graphic Design School in Tempe, AZ, so I was a little worried that our relationship would be over before it had begun. Emily made me a very happy man when she told me that she'd love to move with me after she graduated. There was a feeling of closure setting in as our record company was bought out by a rival chain and they closed out stores for good in April. Emily graduated from UB in May (with honors!), and we packed up the U-Haul and hitched the car for a long journey across the country on July 1st. I was by far the happiest I had ever been in my life.

By September 1999, I was completely hooked, and proposed to my Cutie. I ordered a dozen roses to be delivered to our apartment on a Saturday morning, with the message Will You Marry Me? attached. I worked late on Friday, but was very excited about that morning. I heard the knock on the door, but pretended to be asleep, so Emily would get it. While she answered the door, I went to the secret hiding spot in my sock drawer and pulled out the ring. She was starting to get excited when she realized that someone had sent her flowers. I think she fell into shock when she read the card. I was behind her when she closed the door and turned around. I fell to my knee and placed the ring on her finger and asked her officially right then and there. The joy I saw in her face was matched only by the glow I felt inside myself.

We made plans to be married in April 2000, during my spring break from school, back in her hometown of Binghamton, NY. Though it was sometimes difficult to do things long distance, things went off without a hitch. We were married in an outdoor garden by a justice of the peace, on an unseasonably warm day for April. As it turned out, it was the first day that week that it didn't rain. Our reception was held in at the Glenmary Inn, a Victorian era house that also served as a bed and breakfast. Everything was beautiful and the food was most awesome. I recommend this place highly if you happen to be in the area.

We spent the rest of the week in Niagara Falls. When we lived in Buffalo, we went there quite a bit because we both loved it so much. We did all the touristy stuff and had a great time. We found time to see some of our friends and dine in all the fantastic eateries around town. You just can't get real chicken wings anywhere but Duff's in Amherst; Beef on Weck at Anderson's; and Chicken Fajitas from Mighty Taco. The memories of this week will last me a lifetime, and thinking of them now makes me homesick for Buffalo, my adopted hometown. (I lived there for 14 years.)

We both love film and filmmaking, and spent a good part of our honeymoon taking pictures and shooting footage on our Super 8mm movie camera. I have transferred all the footage over to digital video and when I have a free moment, I will be editing it on the AVID...it should be cool.

I can't fathom being any happier than I am right now. Emily is, as my best man Kevin said in his toast to us at the wedding,'an angel'.




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