When I first saw it on Facebook I commented that someone ought to add a Frisbee into Joe’s hand. After all, the only reason Joe had ever had to jump like that before was to catch a disc. So, with a few clicks here and there I added one.

My friend Scott took my idea and turned it into a bona fide meme. First he added a Super Mario question block.

This next one is my favorite. Apparently Ken from Street Fighter tried to crash the wedding. Joe wouldn’t hear of it.

This last one shows Joe in considerable peril.

So, who wants to make their own? If you do, download the first picture, make your edits, upload it to Facebook and tag Joe.

The Jumping Joe Meme was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

On the first Sunday of May two of my good friends, Kyle Kozloski and Nicki Nedelisky, got married in Ocala, Florida. Now, I know that I’ve been to a lot of weddings in the past eighteen months, but this one was special. No, I wasn’t in it, but I felt as much a part of this wedding as any other, including the ones in which I’ve had a role.

You see, this past year Kyle was one of my two roommates and Nicki one of my three next-door neighbors. On top off all that, all of us were campus ministers with The Navigators. When we all moved in to the respective sides of our hole-in-the-wall duplex in August ’07 Kyle and Nicki weren’t even dating, much less thinking of marriage. In short, I got to witness these chapters of their love story unfold from a very unique angle. Before I become too far removed from it, I’d like to try to tell some of that story.

I remember a night in the spring after Kyle and Nicki were engaged. My roommates, Luke and Kyle, and I were getting ready for bed. The wedding was drawing near, and Luke commented that it had been fun to watch Kyle and Nicki fall in love. I immediately disagreed with him, which they both thought was hysterical. But I was being half serious. Don’t misunderstand me. Once they fell it was lots of fun, but the falling was not fun at all. The months leading up to their dating relationship were filled with suspense. Will they? Won’t they? Each week Luke, Kyle and I had a roommate meeting where we could share how we were struggling or how we needed prayer. In the fall those meetings more often than not featured Kyle lamenting over the proper way for him to relate to Nicki, whether he should start a second dating relationship with her, and what that would mean if he did.

Alyssa and Helen, Nicki’s roommates from this past year, probably agree with me to some extent. That fall they started calling Kyle “the elephant,” referring to the old expression “there’s an elephant in the room.” I imagine a typical conversation back in the fall might have sounded a little like this.

Nicki (getting off the phone): Kyle’s going to come over for a little bit, okay?
Helen (big smile): Oh, the elephant’s coming over!
Alyssa (big smile): Oh, the elephant’s coming over!
Nicki (small smile): Yeah, the elephant’s coming.

I can relate to that elephant feeling (though — and let’s be clear about this — I would never refer to Nicki as such). She and Kyle were fond of watching The Office together in our living room on her laptop, which generally signaled my cue to exit to the back of the house. Not only do I think The Office isn’t funny at all, but, you know, I didn’t want to be the third wheel on their fake-date. More than once Nicki had to assure me that it would be fine if I stayed out in the living room with them while they watched, to which I politely thanked her and made some excuse for needing to be at my computer (thank God for desktops).

This kind of thing went on for months. I have to admit, I had no idea how the story was going to end. As a rule I tend to think that most stories will have a happy ending so long as I’m not one of the principle characters. But with this I wasn’t sure. But I remember the exact moment I knew this story was going to have a happy ending. It was the beginning of December. It may very well have been December 1, because I think we were all celebrating Kyle’s brother’s birthday. I don’t recall how he did it, but Kyle really injured his back that day. Kyle has had chronic back trouble, but on this day he was in absolute agony, barely able to move.

So Ross’ party had given way to tending to Kyle and trying to get him comfortable. It was getting late and the birthday party crew had dwindled to myself, Ross, Nicki and Kyle. Nicki had gone to her side of the duplex to get something, a heating pad I think, and when she returned I stopped her at our door. Thinking that I was being considerate, I told her that I thought Ross and I could handle things if she wanted to go home and get some sleep. Looking past me, she responded saying, “I just want to take care of him,” and rushed into the house.

It wasn’t just her words, and it wasn’t just how she said them. She had a look on her face and in her eyes, a look that I can really only describe as a mothering look, a look that I hadn’t at all expected to see. But there it was. It was love. Because he was hurting so was she. I stood there in the doorway struck dumb by the scene, for it isn’t everyday you see that sort of thing. And even though they were still only fake-dating, that’s when I knew this story was going to end well.

They began real-dating not long after that, a week or two later. That came as both a joy and a relief to me. Finally! Of course, with this came a new question. When were they going to get engaged? And no, it wasn’t too early to begin asking. Saying they wanted to be a couple again was saying they wanted to be a couple for good. Allow me emphasize my point. I remember one afternoon in early January, before they were engaged. Luke, Kyle and I were in our kitchen. I was eating lunch. Then this little conversation happened.

Kyle: Nicki and I were talking and we might be getting married in April.
Me: [Pause for effect, then, incredulously, without looking up from my sandwich...] Whatever.
Luke: [High-pitched laughter, either at me or Kyle, possibly both.]

A few days later they were engaged. It was over MLK weekend. I’ve heard that story a hundred times now but I could never do it justice. Soon after they set a date of May 4. In the time between the “Yes” and the “I do” they were racing around putting the pieces of the wedding together. I would come home and find them on our couch, both on their laptops, with all sorts of everything laying out in front of them, making calls or talking through details. Most of my memory of those spring months, as far as wedding prep goes, has to do with hearing of their latest completed step and their next big hurdle. Kyle’s roommate meeting talks turned from lament to a strange mix of stress and peace: stress over the work that still needed to be done and peace over the woman he was marrying. Those months seemed to go by very fast. I can see why most couples don’t try to plan a wedding in such a small amount of time.

I remember the last night Kyle was my roommate. It was April 30. The FSU Nav staff, sans Kyle and Nicki, had just come back from a region-wide planning meeting in Gainesville. Kyle was going to Ocala the next morning where he’d be through the wedding day. The three of us went out for a late dinner at Gordo’s, a little Cuban restaurant near our house. It was all a little surreal. It was strange to think about the fact that he wasn’t going to be my roommate ever again, stranger still to think about who his next roommate was going to be! It had been a great year together. To not only be living together but to all be campus ministers for the same ministry together was very special. I’m going to miss it.

The wedding weekend, so far as I could tell, went exactly as they planned it. I got to be a part of so much more than I ever thought I would. Like I said, I wasn’t in the wedding, but you wouldn’t have known it. I went to Kyle’s bachelor party, played ultimate Frisbee with he and his groomsmen, and even attended the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner (I received a last-second special invite from Nicki). To top it all off, instead of staying with my friend at his parents’ home, I got to stay in the hotel with the groomsmen. And not just any room — Kyle’s room. Yep, it was me, Kyle, Joe Landon, JD and Ross. (Fold-out couch for the win!) I continue to feel very blessed to have been a part of so much of that weekend.

The ceremony was very special. Nicki was such a beautiful bride! Their wedding included some moments I don’t think I’ll ever forget. Like when little Benjamin Wirgau, who’s possibly the cutest five-year-old ever, came in right on cue waving his little bell saying, “The bride is coming! The bride is coming!” Or how at least half a dozen times I thought Kyle and Nicki were going to kiss before they were told to. Or how the whole ceremony seemed to be happening around the bride and groom, that when you looked at them looking at each other it was as though they were already somewhere else entirely. But even if I forget all that, I’ll never forget their kiss! You have to know that these two had never kissed on the lips before. You also have to know that the groomsmen put me in charge of timing their kiss because we were betting on how long it would be (I know, men are twisted). That smooch was officially 12.23 seconds! I’m smiling just thinking about it. Those crazy kids.

The newlyweds were openly playful at their reception. Quite appropriately their first dance was to Ella Fitzgerald’s “At Last.” It was a classy reception, complete with a song from High School Musical (to which everyone seemed to know the corresponding dance). Cheesy Disney music not withstanding, it really was one heck of a party. We all danced the night away, and before too long Kyle and Nicki made their exit under a canopy of bubbles, off to a Jamaican honeymoon.

I said at the start that I felt very much a part of this wedding despite the fact that I didn’t hold any role in it. I think that’s because this is the first wedding in which I knew both the bride and the groom this well. In fact, I’ve only been to two other weddings where I’d even met both bride and groom prior to the ceremony, and in each case I knew one far better than the other. That’s what made this a unique experience for me. I’ve known both Kyle and Nicki for six years now. This past year I was privileged to get to know them both much better as fellow laborers and dear friends. I don’t typically express happiness with tears, but I had them on my face for most of their ceremony. Truly, I couldn’t be happier for them.

My Roommate and My Neighbor was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Jeremy Howard – The Thursday before St Patrick’s Day I traveled from Florida to Nashville for my cousin Beka’s wedding. I had been eagerly looking forward to this trip for weeks. My wanderlust peaked when all the students left to go on spring break. I really needed a vacation.

Incidentally I was traveling on my sister’s birthday. It was the first time I got to see Alison on her birthday since she turned fourteen back in 2002. It’s weird to think about things like that, measuring time based on milestones missed. Since I arrived at around 9 PM central time I didn’t spend too much time with her on her actual birthday, but I did get to give her a gift in person. Strangely, she also gave me a gift. You’d think after nineteen birthdays she would have figured out how the process works.

Friday we met up with the rest of the family. My mom is the oldest of six children, so there’s lots of little ones. Or at least they used to be little. The youngest one is eight now. It never ceases to amaze me how fast kids grow, especially when you don’t see them everyday. Since we were in Nashville and since my mom, four of her siblings and some of their spouses (including my dad) all went to Vanderbilt we spent the day on campus. We’re all sports nuts so we found the sports bar in the student union and watched some NCAA tournament basketball while catching up with one another.

Friday afternoon each individual family went and did their own thing. Mine met up with one of my parents’ old friends who is now a professor of engineering at Vanderbilt. It was fun to hear some old stories, a few of which I’ve heard before but only from the perspective of my mom and dad. It makes me wonder how many of my friends from college I’ll be able to stay in touch with thirty years from now.

Friday night my grandmother and the parents of the bride went to the rehearsal dinner. The rest of the family went out to a fancy restaurant near campus. For the last two or three reunions I’ve been eagerly awaiting an invite to join the adult table, but once again I was told to head up the kids table. And it only makes it worse when they try to tell you that it’s not the kids table, that it’s actually just the under forty table or the second generation table. As if that would change the company or the level of conversation. And I don’t mean to insult my cousins. It was still fun eating with them, and the overall maturity level has increased a good bit since the last reunion, but there were still a couple of moments during dinner where I wished I could crawl under the table for a minute or two.

Saturday was the day of the wedding. These next few sentences are going to be a bit tricky. I need to say a word about what my feelings were towards weddings before going on this trip. Without going into too much detail, I didn’t think much of them. They seemed fake. People commit to a feeling and not to a person. Some are even taking the words “until death do us part” out in favor of “until love fades,” which I suppose is more honest but doesn’t reflect what a marriage should be. I wish more people would just elope and spare us the farce. Now, I didn’t believe my cousin was going to end up as one of these statistics, and I still don’t, but it’s still difficult to not be cynical.

I can say without any hesitation that none of these feelings were evoked during this wedding. From the very start you could tell this wasn’t going to be a cookie cutter wedding. They first ran a slide show of old photos, first of Beka, then Jeremy, then the two of them together. After everyone walked down the aisle and took their places my Uncle Chuck, the father of the bride, began to perform the service. I had heard they wanted to make the ceremony fun, but I had no idea just how great it was going to be. The service was essentially a roast of both the bride and groom. This struck me as being what was missing in other weddings. Not that each wedding needed the participants to be embarrassed in front of their family and friends before saying “I do.” But this roast did a great job of exposing each person. Here were the things they might not tell just anyone, now out in the open. The commitment they were making, it was to this person with these idiosyncrasies. Despite how difficult it might seem to combine these two lives – any two lives – in a marriage, they were committing to the challenge for life. I left knowing they were committed to each other and not just a feeling, which is something I can’t always say.

The reception had a picnic theme. All the table clothes were a checkered red and white. The catering was by Loveless and was fried chicken with all the fixings. Neither Jeremy nor Beka like cake, so they had wedding pie instead. There was some music and some dancing, but before you knew it the reception was over and the newlyweds were running out to their car amidst a barrage of silver confetti.

After the reception was a late night of watching more basketball with the family. This is where I expected to be asked when I was going to be getting married. But it turns out that my family is more sensitive than that. Or at least that’s one explanation. I found out on this trip that literally everyone in my family reads my blog. Even my grandmother, who doesn’t have a computer, has one of her kids fax the entries to her. So I may have created a reverse self-fulling prophesy. Whatever. I’m just glad I didn’t have to field any awkward questions. Early the next morning I made my way to the airport. I was the first of all the family to leave. I didn’t get nearly enough time with anyone. Sadly the next reunion probably won’t be for another three years, unless someone gets married before then. The day of traveling took a lot out of me. I wasn’t feeling all that good by the end of the day, but I figured I was just tired. All in all I had a fantastic trip. If you’d like to see some photos from the weekend I’ve got an album right here.

Somebody Please Kill Me – Okay, so maybe I wasn’t just tired. I had to leave work early on Monday and didn’t go back to work until Thursday due to a case of food poisoning. Wow, how’s that for a reality check? I’ll spare you further details. I probably came down with it after eating the the Charlotte airport, but it could have been just about anything I ate on Sunday.

90s Party – I did everything I could to get well because on Saturday my friends James, Joe and JD were hosting their Annual Decades Dance party. This year the decade of choice was the 1990s. Before you say that not enough time has passed please consider this: everyone in attendance lived through this decade. People got really creative with their attire. Most people, rather than dressing like they did in the 90s, chose to dress like a famous person from the 90s. Who did I dress as? Only the most influential man from that decade: Homer Simpson. My friends Anna and Brandon came as Marge and Bart. We were amongst those nominated for best costume, though we did not get first or second prize. Those honors went to Carrie for Edward Scissorhands and Rob for Al Borlin (Tim Allen’s tool show co-host on Home Improvement). The entranceway to the party was themed after Jurassic Park, complete with an authentic-looking homemade sign. The music, which James put weeks of effort into preparing, was fantastic. There were two unexpected highlights to the evening. The first was that a number of girls came as jazzercisers. They actually led a jazzercise workout for everyone. I’ve got the YouTube video linked down below. The second is something is evidently a time-honored tradition in the Chandler household. That is, of course, making your own Hammer pants out of white trash bags. Hysterical. The funny thing is that most everyone got into both of these. Lots of people were jazzercising and even more were doing their best Hammer dance. You have to realize that I don’t really like parties all that much. The fact that I would say I liked this party is saying a lot. But this was by far the best party I’ve ever been to. James and company will have a very hard time living up to this next year.

[youtube 5D4f-9VaEOg]

It’s Like a Snow Day, Only Hot – This past week on both Tuesday and Wednesday everyone at work was sent home at 3pm because the air conditioning in our building was broken. It got pretty sticking hot those two days, and I’m sort of surprised they didn’t send us home on Thursday. Since I’m an OPS employee I won’t get paid for those hours. Combine that with the fact that the week before I missed two and a half days due to being sick and I’m looking at a financially thin month.

Rez Week – This past week was Rez Week at FSU. For those who don’t know, Resurrection Week is a week each spring where all the campus ministries (or most of them, at least) cancel their normal schedule and come together for corporate worship events. Though traditionally it has been held the week before Easter, this year it was pushed up so that the Catholic Student Union would be free to participate. This year’s theme was to turn away selfish idols and pursue God and community with other believers. I did not attend the first meeting on Tuesday when Mario, the Chi Alpha leader, gave the message. But Wednesday Brent gave a message that can be summoned up in one word: repent. It was a very passionate and forceful message that we all needed to hear. After he finished the people present spent hours praying together. Thursday Dave spoke about community within the Trinity, how God is a community unto Himself. He challenged us to through John 17:20-26 saying that we needed to be as close to each other as the Father is to the Son. We spent time praying for the other three campuses having Rez Week this week: Appalachian State, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and University of Texas at Austin, that God would move on their campuses as well as our own. Soon I’ll have the audio of all three messages and will make it available on my site.

The rest – I can’t believe we’ve already reached April. It’s so much harder to judge the passage of time when you’re not a student. Weeks turn into months much more easily when you’re doing the same thing over and over again. I have to admit, I’m looking forward to the end of the spring semester. I’ll be able to drop my student-related activities for a couple of months and concentrate on some things that I haven’t been able to give the proper time, most notably writing. But there’s still one more month to go. I think it will be a good one.

The Howards and The Simpsons was originally published on Andrew Ledwith's blog.
© 2004-2011 Andrew Ledwith. All rights reserved.