Season’s Greetings!
Another busy year comes to a close and we find ourselves looking forward to 1997 as we reflect on the twelve months past...
The beginning of 1996 was filled with anticipation and excitement as we dedicated every weekend and every moment of free time to the planning and organization of our wedding. With very little hesitation, every married couple we encountered this year were more than delighted to share their own wedding horror stories with us. So even when we were traveling we found a way to devote time to our nuptial preparation (including the hunt for white lace stockings in Department Stores throughout England and Wales!). In Cardiff we turned on the television in our hotel room to find a program called “Wedding Disasters” being broadcast, which only reinforced our determination to be ready and prepared for any eventuality come what July.
The beginning of the year also saw some work-related changes for both of us. Debra applied for a new position with Providence-St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. In March she switched from being a regular float nurse at the hospital to being assigned specifically to the Short Stay Unit where patients stay for a few hours following minor surgery or walk-in treatment. Since there are no overnight patients, Debra is no longer required to work evenings and only an occasional weekend. As a per diem nurse, she makes her own schedule and works as many or few days as she likes. The flexibility of the job and the good nature of her manager, Cheryl, make it easy for us to travel when the opportunities arise.
In January and February, Eric continued his temporary assignments with various offices in the “Star Trek” writing department at Paramount Pictures. A permanent position became available in March and Eric was hired as Michael Piller’s assistant, returning to Paramount as a full-time employee with benefits! Michael is one of the co-creators of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek:Voyager” and was also Executive Producer of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” during Eric’s previous stint as Script Coordinator. In April, Michael stepped down as Executive Producer of “Deep Space Nine” and “Voyager” to begin a 3-year development deal to write and create new television programs for Paramount. Michael continues to serve as Creative Consultant for “Star Trek” and other projects. Additionally, he sold his first feature film script to Paramount, which is being developed by Producer/Director Sydney Pollack. Eric’s favorite aspect of working for Michael is typing the scripts through their various stages of revision. Michael is a brilliant writer and working for him is a wonderful learning experience.
In March we attended a small “Star Trek” convention in Salt Lake City where Eric got to meet Debra’s friends Larry & Ann Heinhold and their daughter Stephanie. In April we flew to Eugene on a wedding reconnaissance mission Easter weekend. We met with our photographer, the Church officials, the florist, the butcher, the baker, the candlestick makers...
The first weekend of May found us in Cardiff, Wales, for another “Star Trek” convention. We had a wonderful time with our British friends, Debbie & Theresa Moorin (who we’ve met previously on “Star Trek” cruises and conventions in Pasadena) and their mother Liz, who had driven up from Devon to spend the weekend. Debra never did find the white lace stockings she was hoping to wear at the wedding, despite trips to seven bridal shops in Cardiff and numerous more in the United States. Several weeks after returning to Burbank we received a package in the mail from England with a lovely pair of white lace stockings inside. Seems Mrs. Moorin was able to locate the stockings, with help from her sister, and pass them along to Debra as a gift. It was a wonderful surprise -- and one less thing on our list of “Wedding Things To Do...”
We attended Eric’s family reunion during Memorial weekend in Carlton, Oregon. Another chance for the relatives to meet Debra and for Debra to begin sorting out all the names and faces in Eric’s family tree. The weekend also allowed us to finalize some last minute details in Eugene as well.
In June, Eric’s sister and brother-in-law, Stacey & Marc Cogswell came to Southern California for a visit. While they were here, we devoted a full day to our annual outing: a trip to the Renaissance Pleasure Faire -- where 17th Century England is recreated in a regional state park about 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Every year we like to dress-up in our 17th Century peasant clothes (you should see Debra in a peasant skirt with bodice and lace!) and pretend to travel back into time where we can eat, drink and be merry! Afterwards we got to visit with Marc’s brother and his family who live in the area, too. Stacey and Marc also attended the co-ed bridal shower in Burbank hosted by Debra’s maid of honor, MaryAnne Given.
Also in June we decided to break with tradition (in a big way) and go on a honeymoon cruise to the Caribbean -- before the wedding. In reality it was a previous engagement for Eric (as emcee for Cruise Trek ‘96: The Caribbean Exploration), and we had a wonderful time. The cruise sailed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and stopped at the Caribbean islands of St. Thomas, Guadaloupe, Grenada, Aruba, as well as the city of Caracas, capitol of Venezuela, in South America! The cruise reunited us with previous Cruise Trekkers as well as friends from the Los Angeles area including Suzanne Fuentes, Diane Peterson, Lynda & Dan Foley, as well as our friends who organize and run Cruise Trek, Linda Wolf and Charles Datin.
On July 13th, in Eugene, Oregon, we were married. Since most of you reading this newsletter also attended the wedding or have heard stories and seen pictures, we won’t bore you with all the details again. Suffice it to say, it was a lovely day (despite the unusually warm weather!) and for us, it couldn’t have been more perfect. We were honored by the presence of everyone who attended. We were thrilled, too, that so may people from distant places could join our friends and relatives in Oregon. Father Terry flew from Toronto, Canada, as did Debra’s parents Clinton & Margaret Holdbrook and her brother and sister-in-law, Steven & Elaine Holdbrook. Our friend & soloist, Toya Brown, came up from Los Angeles, as did friends Linda Wolf, Charles Datin, Lolita Fatjo, Heidi & Waverly Smothers, David George (Eric’s best man), Karen Ragan, MaryAnne Given (Debra’s maid of honor) and Hugh Given. Victoria Zimmerman & John Ratnaswamy flew from Chicago, Angie Aniol came from Davenport, Iowa, and Linda Husong from Fort Worth, Texas. Debra’s relatives, the Davies family and the Quarts family, drove down from British Columbia. Eric’s relatives, the Fergusons, drove up from Northern California and numerous more of Eric’s family drove from various parts throughout Oregon.
The siblings of the bride and groom and their respective spouses still haven’t been thanked enough for all their help at the wedding and reception (thank you, again, Marc, Stacey, Steven & Elaine!) as well as both sets of parents for being so wonderful. We also had great fun opening our gifts at the party hosted by Delmer and Frankie Stillwell at their home the day after the wedding -- even if it was 103 degrees in the shade! We stayed at a beautiful Bed & Breakfast in Eugene before returning to California.
In Burbank we had another reception on July 20th for our friends and co-workers who were unable to attend the wedding in Eugene. Eric’s parents drove down from Eugene with our wedding gifts (as well as Eric’s entire childhood “Star Trek” collection dating back to 1972!). Our apartment will never be the same! We haven’t seen the dining room table in months, and that huge walk-in closet... well, you can’t walk in it anymore!
In August we worked to pay off wedding bills.
In September we flew to New Jersey to attend the wedding of our friends Karen and David (Eric’s best man). In turn, Eric was one of David’s best men. The wedding was held indoors (thanks to some residual weather from a hurricane) at an old Victorian mansion, and the service was very beautiful. The reception afterwards was great fun. During the weekend we met many of Karen’s relatives and friends of both. We also had the pleasure of meeting David’s mother, Patricia, his sister, Jennifer, and Anita. John and Victoria were also there from Chicago, and all seven of us had a great time together at dinner one night. The next day we drove with John & Victoria along the Jersey shore before heading back to Newark for our flights home.
In October we worked to pay off wedding bills.
In November we celebrated Eric’s birthday by attending a small “Star Trek” luncheon in Sacramento, California, which was a fundraiser for the Pediatric Aids Foundation. Eric was one of the honorary guests and the group raised over $6,000.00 for the charity. Back in Los Angeles we attended the World Premiere of “Star Trek: First Contact” at Mann’s Chinese Theater on November 18th. The film was followed by a huge Hollywood party across the street which was attended by the entire cast of the film, the writers, the producers, the director and many others. Debra got to tell the film’s producer, Rick Berman, how much more she enjoyed this movie compared to his first “Star Trek” film!
On November 21st we departed Los Angeles for another convention in England. (Ironically, we had a connecting flight through JFK airport in New York City on November 22nd -- the 33rd anniversary of JFK’s assassination.) We eventually arrived in London after what seemed like a never-ending flight and were met at the airport by one of the convention organizers, Ali Hopkins, who promptly drove us to the site of the convention (two hours away) in Folkestone, England, an ancient little town situated precariously on a cliff overlooking the English Channel. The next morning we caught up with our friends Lolita Fatjo and Max Grodénchik (who plays Rom on “Deep Space Nine”), who were also there for the convention. Max had just come from a convention appearance in Northern Ireland. Debra made all the “talent” arrangements for both conventions, representing Max, Lolita and Eric. Lolita and Eric hosted one of their “writers workshops” during the weekend and were interviewed by the Sci Fi Channel.
Convention organizer Kim Knight made everybody feel right at home. Our friends Debbie, Theresa and Liz also came for the weekend and a good time was had by all. The weather turned stormy on Sunday evening -- gale force winds across the English Channel. We were concerned that our plans to cross the Channel the next morning would be scuttled. But the storm blew itself out overnight and the next morning we went to Dover for the ferry trip across the Channel to Boulogne, France.
We arrived in France on November 25th. We took a train to Paris and arrived in the early evening. After navigating through the Paris underground -- The Metro -- we arrived at our quaint little hotel in the old part of Paris not far from Notre Dame. The Hotel du Lys, now remodeled, had once been a mansion in the 17th Century. Our room was small, but quiet -- and furnished with all the modern amenities. From the hotel we could walk to numerous cobblestone streets filled with restaurants, cafes and outdoor markets. The weather was mostly cold and rainy, but Paris is a beautiful city and we had a great time. During our five day visit, we traveled the Metro to numerous tourist sites, including the beautiful cathedral Sacre-Cœur which overlooks the city, Notre Dame cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, L’Arc de Triumph, Avenue Champs Elyseé, and the Moulin Rouge district. We devoted one entire day to the Louvre, a former royal palace-turned museum, where we witnessed famous works of art firsthand, including the Mona Lisa, the Winged Victory and the Venus de Milo. We spent Thanksgiving Day at Disneyland Paris and at one point it was actually snowing. The Seine River cruise in freezing cold weather was also “interesting.” Eventually we were exhausted and ready to go home, but first we needed to get back to London for our return flight. Originally we had planned to take the Eurostar train from Paris to London via The Chunnel (a train tunnel under the English Channel) but a train fire several days before our arrival had caused the indefinite closure of The Chunnel. Fortunately we were able to make flight arrangements back to London from Paris.
Our friends Gail and Bo Maxwell met us at Heathrow and helped us get checked in at our airport hotel for the overnight stay. Then they drove us to to see Windsor Castle, not far from the airport. Windsor village is an ancient and delightful place. We walked along the banks of the River Thames and watched the swans swimming. Afterward, Bo & Gail drove us to Woodstock -- another old and quaint village near Oxford, adjacent to the family estate of Winston Churchill’s family. We had “tea” at an old hotel, with a fire raging in the hearth. We loved every minute of it. Then we went back toward London and had an incredible English dinner at a restaurant called ”The Pheasant.” On December 1st, we returned to Los Angeles.
Now we’re well into December and the month seems to have zipped by with holiday parties and Christmas shopping. In just a few short days we’ll be flying to Eugene to spend Christmas with Eric’s parents. We’ll also celebrate Del’s 62nd birthday before returning to Burbank for the New Year.
To each and every one of you, your friends and loved ones, we send best wishes for a New Year filled with happiness, joy, love and good health!
Love,
Eric & Debra
