As Samuel Johnson once said, "A second marriage is the triumph of hope over experience!"
(Quoted in The Week, February 11, 2005, p. 19.)
Coudersport's Gazebo on the Courthouse square provided the setting for the May 2, 2004, wedding of Wanda Gehret Shirk of Ulysses and George Petrisek of Port Allegany. The Honorable Judge John B. Leete officiated at the outdoor ceremony, which featured a skit from the Thorton Wilder play "Our Town" performed by Ann Coyle and Cliff Wood, both of Ulysses, friends of the bride, with Judge John Leete as narrator. Readings from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet," entitled "On Love" and "On Marriage" were presented by Teri McDowell of Port Allegany and Donald Gilliland of Coudersport, friends of the couple. After soloist Nicole Hurd of Ulysses, friend of the bride, sang "The Rose," the couple exchanged red roses and read responsively "Love" by Roy Croft. A picnic on the courthouse square followed the ceremony. The bride is employed as an English teacher at Northern Potter High School. Her husband is retired from teaching English at Port Allegany High School and works as a reporter for the Potter Leader-Enterprise, Bradford Era, Port Allegany Reporter-Argus and Kane Republican newspapers. They are making their home in Ulysses. - Potter Leader Enterprise.
My daughter Dawn, now age 25, was always my "priceless, precious Princess." Words fail to express what this treasure has meant to me from the time she was born at home in the log cabin we built in Potter County in 1977. Dawn graduated from Houghton college (NY) in 2000 and currently works for Sagewood in Coudersport, PA, as a one-on-one children's counselor.
Shawn, now age 23, has provided stories and adventure beyond all imagination! Shawn loves his son, Sebastian, more than anything else in the world, and he has a huge tatoo on his right arm that reads "4-22-2003." That's Sebastian's birth date. Shawn entered the Air Force after high school graduation and currently works for Adelphia Communications in Coudersport, PA.
I love all the foster children we were fortunate to share our home with over a period of 25 years: Billy and Todd, Michele and Renee, David and Sherry, Susie and Stevie, Brian and Becky, Gloria and Ronnie, Rosie and Jimmy, Dustin and Heather, Kathy and Anna, Sherman and Arlene, Phil and Elmer, Roy, and a few others for shorter periods of time. Some of these I've lost track of, but one of my dreams is someday to track them all down again and have them here for a huge party! Many of these wonderful people I truly hold close in my heart, and I wish they could all know how much I love them.
Val from Ukraine, Tom from Germany, and Kjetil ("KJ") from Norway were foreign exchange students who each lived with us for one school year during the years Shawn was in high school. I love each of these young men dearly, and another of my goals is someday to visit each one of them in his own country. They enriched our lives immeasurably.