I've heard from fellow Tripodians Drew Kelly and Sean Barbera that marriage is a wonderful institution. Well, after a month of marriage to my wife Lisa, I'd have to agree with them. One month ... wow! It seems like just yesterday when Lisa accompanied me on my move from Chicago back to New York, driving a U-Haul® packed with my life's belongings — and that was over two years ago!

I've known Lisa for six years, but we've only been an item for three of them. We first met at a NYC Marathon party, held in a First Avenue apartment overlooking the marathon route. After we met, we spoke here and there. Ironically, it wasn't until I moved out to Chicago in 1996 that we began to talk more. I guess absence does make the heart grow fonder. (No "out of sight, out of mind" for us!) She came out to visit me a few times, and I reciprocated. We had that long-distance-relationship thing going on. It was tough, but we really enjoyed being together.

At that time, I'd reached a crossroads in my career. I realized that something needed to change to get me going again. The possibility of going to grad school had crossed my mind several times, but it was Lisa who helped put things in perspective — she has two masters degrees, so she was obviously for it. I returned to the Big Apple in August of 1997 to attend Fordham's Graduate School of Business.

And we thought the long-distance thing was tough! Keeping a relationship together when one person is in grad school is even tougher, what with all of the homework, classes, group projects, student government, internships, and interviews. We had also moved in together in a small studio apartment on the East Side — talk about getting up close and personal! But we survived, none the worse for wear.

Fast-forward to this year. During the summer we traveled to England for a post-graduation, mental-health vacation, and I accepted a job at Tripod and proposed to Lisa — all in about two months! I think my decision to take a job at Tripod and move to Williamstown accelerated the marriage process; we'd talked about getting married before, but it always seemed like something we'd deal with later.

We got engaged in July, and planned to wed in three months, which took some serious effort. We both wanted a short engagement. Having attended several friends' weddings together, and hearing all about 18-month engagements and wedding-planning hell, we wanted no part of it. No, ours would be simple and different; Lisa really wanted a morning wedding that included brunch with waffles and fruit. I loved the idea! Besides, neither of us wanted to deal with a huge wedding and reception, where we'd have to go from table to table saying, "We're so glad you could be here" to great-great-aunts and fifth cousins, twice-removed. That would not have been fun.

We decided on a small ceremony with only 33 immediate family members in attendance, which was plenty! After the ceremony, everyone gorged themselves on a four-course brunch at one gigantic table, which was laden with all sorts of goodies (including waffles, of course). A week later, we threw a cocktail-party reception so that our friends could celebrate with us. As for the honeymoon, we'll take that in the spring, when the weather is nice and I can get some time off!

Now we're married, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's taken some time to get used to having these rings on our fingers, and to saying "my husband" and "my wife." We're both settling in for what will be a very enjoyable ride through life together, and most importantly, we're having fun. We're excited to share the holidays with our new families, and can hardly wait to take off on our honeymoon! Marriage is a wonderful institution!

— Stephen