Our Story
How we met
When Renee was working on her MBA (at JCU), she was a Graduate
Assistant in the Boler School of Business. The BSOB established an
office for the Entrepreneur’s Association, of which Maryanne
Lutjen was named the new secretary. Maryanne had worked in the
Alumni Office for several years before switching to the BSOB, and
Vinnie worked in the Alumni office while he was an undergrad. He
continues to be actively involved in the alumni section of the
website and with Reunion Weekend. Maryanne mentioned to Renee that she knew
of someone Renee should meet, so she arranged for us to meet at the
retirement party of someone in the Alumni Office. The party was on
campus in the Jardine Room.
We both attended the party, and near the end Maryanne introduced
us to each other. We sat for a while and Vinnie asked Renee to tell
him about herself, so she did. Renee thought it was a bit odd that
Vinnie was so quiet, seeing as Maryanne had said he was a DJ. After
the party, a group of people from the Alumni Office went out to
dinner, so Vinnie invited Renee along. We had a nice time, and then
Vinnie drove us back to JCU.
He asked if he could call, and Renee told him that she could get
her office number from Maryanne. Well, typical male, he never
called. Eventually the people in the office bugged Renee enough that
she agreed to e-mail Vinnie. We e-mailed back and forth for a while,
and tried to find time to meet again. Renee was busy finishing her
master’s, and Vinnie was busy Deejaying and taking a family
vacation. About a month and a half after we first met, we had our
first date.
The first date
Renee was house-sitting in Solon at the time, and Vinnie works in
Solon, so they agreed to meet for dinner where Renee was
house-sitting. The talk of the BSOB office was what to cook and what
to wear, but eventually the girls helped Renee decide on a menu and
then sent her home early to get ready. She can’t remember what she
wore, but she had steak with mushroom and onions, a salad, and
garlic bread. Somewhere in the process, she dropped and broke a
glass that shattered all over the countertop. Anyway, dinner must
have been a success, because we soon started to see each other every
weekend!
The proposal
March 24, 2001
It was a pretty typical Cleveland Spring Saturday, and we were
going to head to the Shoppe for lunch and to pick up some groceries.
Vinnie said he wanted to stop at school first because there were a
few things for reunion that the people in the Alumni office needed
first thing Monday. We went to his office (in Rodman Hall), and he said
Rosalie had left him a note to check if the Jardine Room had a DVD
player so they could show movies during reunion. So, we trudged over
there, and there was a big sign out front that said "Welcome
Little Sibs." Apparently, Vinnie didn’t realize it was little
sibs weekend. There weren’t many people going in and out the
doors, so I encouraged him to go in, as I didn’t think it would
take long to look for the DVD player. He asked me to go in with him,
so I did. The room was empty!
He walked over towards the back of the room, where the AV
equipment is located and looked around. He asked me to come over
there (I was trying to steal a free donut) so I went by him. As best
I can remember, here’s what we said:
Vinnie: Rosalie didn’t ask me to look for a DVD player and I
already knew there wasn’t one here. (Pause.) Did you know we met
in this room?
Renee: Yes, hunny.
(Vinnie got down on one knee)
V: Will you marry me?
R: Yes. {Vinnie's note: Renee never said yes
yet. She was probably too busy watching the hockey game on the big
screen TV in the Jardine Room.}
V: Can I get up now, because my knees are killing me?!
(He stands up, and gives me the closed ring box. I open it, and
give it back to him.)
He presents it to me, and says again "Will you marry
me?"
R: I already said yes, you don’t have to ask me again. {Vinnie's
note: it is obvious my fiancé is hallucinating, because she never
said yes the first time.}
V: We’re going to get married.
R: Yes.
Then Vinnie complained that I wasn't screaming or crying or both,
and we went back to the Jeep and drove to the Shoppe. It was a usual
busy Saturday, so it wasn’t easy getting Al and both my parents in
the same room, so I just said, "Vinnie asked me to marry
him." They were excited and congratulated us and proposed a
celebratory dinner.
Vinnie’s parents were in town visiting Andy and Kelly, so he
called them and arranged a time for us to go over to Andy and Kelly’s.
We had some time to kill, so we went and told Grandma Sophie, and
then we went to Russ and Laurie’s. Laurie wasn’t home, but Russ
congratulated us and said they could also meet us for dinner.
So we went to Andy and Kelly’s and arrived about the time they
got home from shopping. We helped carry the packages in, and almost
as soon as everyone was in the door, Vinnie said he had an
announcement. He held up my hand and said, "Three words: 'She
Said Yes'!" Kelly and Vinnie’s mom were screaming and
everyone was hugging everyone else. We told them the story and they
called a few other people to let them know the good news.
We ended up meeting with my entire family for dinner at a local
restaurant.
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