Welcome to our wedding blog, generously created and pieced together by Liz Little (see her entry below).

We have really enjoyed receiving your entries,and are grateful for your efforts. We think you will have fun reading about, and seeing pictures of each other too. It will be a wonderful keepsake for us.

Liz tells us that it will be possible for everyone to add pictures to an on-line website (Picasa) and make comments to this blog, so remember to bring your cameras to the wedding! See toolbar on right for directions on uploading pictures.

We could not be more excited about sharing our wedding and spending some time with the people we love most, our families. See you at Mohonk!!!

Love,
Linda and Curtis

Thomas and Catherine Jean Christie

Linda’s father was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Met her mother as a child, as she was his best friend’s sister. He served in the army in Italy, entertaining troops with movies! Medical School back in Glasgow, then married, moved to U.S. for internship and never went back. Found his final career as Vice President, Medical Affairs, Wyeth International, and Senior Medical Adviser to Corporate Legal Division. Taught his children about love, laughter, sports, music and dance. He said a few things about working hard and being frugal too, like all good Scots.

Catherine Jean Christie (AKA Jean), d. November 3, 2008.
Linda's mother was born in Johnstown, PA, but moved back to Glasgow, Scotland with her Scottish parents as a young girl.
She and her two brothers, Tom and Jim, whom she adored, grew up there. She was an excellent student, and thought about being a doctor like her brothers, but was essentially told that her options were to be a nurse or a teacher. She opted for the latter after getting her Masters Degree at Glasgow University. She married her older brother's best friend and moved the next day to Erie, PA, where Linda's father did his internship. She taught English and Math, but eventually put her career on hold while she raised her children. She had 4 babies in 5 years, and added a fifth 5 years later.
Jean was a devout Catholic, and a devoted wife and mother. In the years when Linda's father was traveling the world for weeks at a time to expand Wyeth's market, she was ruling the roost at home. Like the teacher she was, she reviewed her children's homework regularly, and taught them more about English and Math than anyone else. She counseled us through all of our trials in life, and reminded us to trust in God every step of the way.
In the end, Jean was almost blind, and limited in her physical abilities, but she found joy in reading books on tape, keeping in touch with her children and grandchildren, and going to church when she was able. She always reminded us to count our blessings rather than focus on our trials and tribulations. Good advice.

James Gardner

Linda’s uncle, her mother’s brother, and only relative she had in this country when growing up!

“Uncle Jim” is a retired General Surgeon, who spent most of his working life in Beckley, West Virginia, and is now enjoying the warmth of southern Florida.
Like Linda’s parents, he grew up in Glasgow, Scotland. Like Curtis, he served for 2 years in Alaska. His interests are never-ending.

Tom Christie Family

I am Tom (or Tommy) and I am Linda’s older brother. Unfortunately for Linda I am her only brother. Linda was blessed with three younger sisters but she was stuck with one brother – and an older one at that. Whenever Linda grew tired of dealing with one of our sisters there was always some other younger one hanging around who she could play dolls with, or play house with or bake something in the tiny plastic EZ Bake Oven that Santa brought for Christmas circa 1965. But with me I’m afraid the only way she could connect was to agree to throw batting practice, or play ping pong or race HO cars. Geez, sometimes she would negotiate and I’d have to agree to play house for 30 minutes just to get her to stand in the soccer goal for 5! Can you imagine?

When we all grew up and went off in slightly different directions I finally met a girl who could hang with my sisters intellectually and because of that and a few other things (like, cuz I thought she was beautiful) I asked her to marry me. Her name is Sandra (but goes by Sandy). When I told my father that I was planning on getting married to Sandy he said, “Any girl who marries you is a Saint in my book”. That was one of the nicest things he’s ever said to me. (Scottish humor!)

Sandy and I have had two children: Tom(my) and Julia. Tommy just finished his junior year at Boston College and Julia just finished her freshman year at Wesleyan. They are our pride and joy and have emerged amazingly unscathed after having had to spend their formative years under my tutelage. This is where Sandy comes in. She did a beautiful job raising them. (If I can say so myself!)

Sandy was a law student when I met her and spent 15 years practicing real estate law in New York before she burned out. Since starting her recovery she has re-tooled as a teacher and now teaches 8th grade American History in the same K- 8 school where our kids went.

Tommy will be spending his summer working on the editor’s desk at the Boston Phoenix so if you know of any alt-rock bands or new indie films in the Greater Boston area that need a review you should send him a line.

Julia will be spending her summer exploring all the things she loves which include cooking, drawing and painting and catching up with old friends – not to mention catching up with Project Runway, Top Chef and The Housewives of New York!

As for me, I’m a veteran of the cable tv wars having spent the last 20 years working for Sundance Channel and Showtime Networks in NYC. It has paid the bills and provided plenty of frequent flyer miles for travel when the kids were young. All and all - a good ride!

The Kahn Family

Michele Christie, Richard, Stephanie and Andrew Kahn

Michele, Linda’s sister, lives with her family in Alexandria, Virginia. She is a Pediatric Endocrinologist who also practices general Pediatrics. She has always been an avid reader, and a regular runner. While raising her children, she has become a gourmet cook, a gardener, and most recently, a dog trainer, much to the surprise of her siblings.

Richard has recently retired as Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of the

American Diabetes Association. He is now consulting and writing articles, and traveling the world to share all of his knowledge.

Stephanie is graduating from The Potomac School and going to Haverford College next year. She is having a spectacular year in track, and hopes to run at Haverford. She also plays violin in the orchestra.

Andrew is in tenth grade at the Potomac School, where he plays cello with his sister in the orchestra. His basketball and lacrosse career is on hold after an unfortunate knee injury this season.

The Shaffer Family

The Shaffer Family….
Diane (Linda’s sister) & Dan will have been married 17 years this August. We have two boys: Liam will be turning 12 on June 20th and Nicholas who turned 10 on May 5th. We live in Swarthmore, Pa.
Diane was once an English teacher and a field hockey & lacrosse coach. But two years after Nicholas was born, she began the long, long career switch into psychology. She is (hopefully) defending her dissertation in June or July and will begin her predoctoral internship at the University of Delaware Counseling Center in mid-August.
Dan has been teaching and coaching for over 20 years. He currently teaches 7th grade social studies at Strath Haven middle school and is a varsity football coach at Strath Haven H.S. in Wallingford, PA.
Liam is finishing 6th grade, which is the first year of middle school at Strath Haven. He will not have his father for a social studies teacher next year. He enjoys reading, singing and swimming…and video games! He wants a cat very, very badly…but sadly, he and his dad are very allergic.
Nicholas is finishing 3rd grade. He likes reading, karate, baseball, and video games. Nicholas very much wants a furry animal with four legs (our betta fish, frog and hermit crab do not count). Mom and dad keep saying they will get a dog when there is someone who can be home long enough to take care of one because mom refuses to put any dog on Prozac.

Calum and Michele Gardner

It was in early 2003 that our paths began to cross with an increasingly frequent basis. We met at the office; we were both working at the UN World Food Programme (WFP), the UN’s humanitarian food agency, based in Rome, Italy. Rome was a great place to date. These included moonlit motorino (moped) tours of the city; classical concerts in ancient churches; dinners featuring full-bodied wines and delicious cheeses; weekend afternoons in the Italian countryside.

Our time together wasn’t without its interruptions though; only three months into our budding romance, the war in Iraq began and WFP launched one of its largest operations ever. Michelle was sent in as part of the emergency team, with only days to prepare for what would be a six month deployment. I followed a couple of months later (the first of several moves chasing the girl!!) so we joined up again in Baghdad rather than Rome. I expect we were one of the only American/British couples to be dating in Baghdad during the summer of 2003. Needless to say, our opportunities for actual dates at that time were rather limited, consisting of an occasional coffee in between meetings and dinners together when we managed to get rooms at the same hotel.

This pattern of moving to new countries with WFP continued for the next few years. Following the bombing of the UN compound in Baghdad in August 2003, we were both relocated to Jordan. A few months after that, Michelle’s assignment with the Iraq operation was finished and she headed back to Rome, and shortly thereafter onto Cote d’Ivoire and then Senegal. For the next few years, our relationship consisted of emails, phone calls and periodic vacations together, meeting up in places like the lavender fields of southern France, the Lake District of northern England (my home), and the souks of Morocco.

In 2006 our paths brought us both back to Rome, where Michelle remained for nearly two years before moving back to the US for a position with the UN in New York. Thus began another year of emails, phone calls and vacations together until, while in England celebrating my April 2009 birthday together, we got engaged.

The wedding was held in Michelle’s home town of Rutland, VT, we honeymooned in the Bahamas and at Machu Picchu in Peru, and we are now happily settled in the Upper West Side of Manhattan while continuing to work at the United Nations.