Chinese Checkers

(or, Four Decades)

(Part One)
    He was a tecchie, who chose MIT,
    The quietest man of the house SAE.
    She was a Brit, who’d landed at Wells,
    In those days shy also, or at least so she tells.
    His frat bros. would line up hot dates, all pro bono,
    With great girls from Wellesley, and one Yoko Ono.
    Jane grew a taste for that Cayuga smell,
    Just down the lake with the men of Cornell.
    But fate came and turned them to different ends,
    From back home in Jersey where their families were friends.
    The Tibbetts invited the Crawfords to play
    At boating and swimming in Maine’s Casco Bay.
    The forces of nature provided intrigue -
    When a sudden Nor’Easter sent them back to Chebeague.
    But not everyone could get out of this squall;
    For the size of their party the boat was too small.
    And so it transpired that an almost-cyclone
    Stranded our heroes on an island alone.
    Jane had no choice but to follow a brave plan
    To seek out a shelter with her very own caveman.
(Part Two)
    Once the deal was decided they set the big day
    For Ridgewood, New Jersey ‘mong the sweet buds of May.
    Thought Kathryn and Floyd and their friends John and Midge,
    This is what comes from a good game of Bridge?
    They flew to Bermuda across mighty seas
    For some honeymoon bliss with their Checkers Chinese,
    Then settled on Grove Street, at 1 - 7 - 5,
    Till the stork forced a move onto Patriots Drive.
    He lent them a tenor and kept up the pace
    With special delivery mezzo and bass.
    But that overworked stork hadn’t done his job yet;
    They kept him in flight and begat a quartet.
(Part Three)
    Jane found the time, although Heaven knows when,
    To share her attention with several men.
    First there was Win, and then Len, and then Ron.
    Lately with Dick she’s been carrying on.
    Bard got his own back; you could say he betrayed ha,
    With the countess of Lovelace, a lady called Ada.
    But despite these distractions, their love rolled along,
    And many years later the family stays strong.
    John loves software; Jenny heeds her call;
    Jim loves theater and Scott does it all.
    Bard loves Stage Harbor, both the firm and the place;
    And Jane just flips over open-plan space.
(Part Four)
    And others may slow or stay in one spot,
    But Bard and Jane cha-cha; they swing and Foxtrot.
    So forget Fred and Ginger; Queen Liz and her Phil;
    Montague, Capulet; Hill’ry and Bill.
    There’s a couple we’re toasting whose power to stay
    Has proven itself since that cave on the bay.
    For richer, for poorer, in sickness and health -
    From Ike through to Clinton; from U2 to Stealth;
    From “Leave it to Beaver” to Seinfeld’s farewell;
    As the Boomers grew up, and the Berlin Wall fell;
    They’ve submitted to rule by ideals from above:
    Commitment and faith, communication and love.
      (ESPECIALLY communication.)
    So please raise a glass to a forty-year reign:
    To Tibbetts and Crawford; to Bard, and to Jane.
by Scott, Jim, Jenny & John Crawford
5/9/98
Also check out the anniversary pictures,
in the Photos section of this site.