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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-02-12 published
Aileen REYES and James PICKNELL -- Match
By Judith Tenenbaum, Saturday, February 12, 2005 - Page M4
James PICKNELL didn't seem like the sort of person who would be interested in discussing "spiritual enlightenment" or "collective energy consciousness." He is an engineer, after all, working for Price Waterhouse Coopers Consulting in a profession rooted in facts and figures.
And then he met Aileen Rose REYES.
Mr. PICKNELL's 21-year marriage had just ended in an amicable divorce (the only contentious issue was the custody of two cats).
He was feeling the pillars of his patterned life buckling and some seminal questions emerging: "How did I get here? What did I really want? What am I going to do with the rest of my life?"
An Internet match made his queries redundant when the cosmos brought him Ms. REYES. On a numbing November night in 2003, they rendezvoused at the Niagara Street Café. "We let it all hang out," Ms. REYES, 31, says, "chatting about our hopes, lives and dreams."
What Mr. PICKNELL learned about her wasn't entirely what he had expected. She was 19 years his junior and she had some surprising interests. A commerce graduate from the University of Toronto, she had worked as an accountant and an auditor, and had now reinvented herself spiritually.
Ms. REYES explains: "I shut down emotionally in my 20s and started going deep and asking why." The answers did not come from conventional sources such as her church (she had been raised Catholic) or community, she says, but from within, a result of her liaison with an organization called the Wonders, a group based in Thornton, Ontario, that purports to be "the world's most profound source of love and spiritual enlightenment."
Statements from the organization's website describe the movement as "a collective energy consciousness with the 29th dimension of reality channelled exclusively by deep trance channeller Réné Gaudette."
The group runs workshops, sells audiotapes, Compact Disks and books, and holds personal psychic channelling sessions for a fee.
A proponent of organic foods, Ms. REYES also embraced the Wonders' nutritional and ecological concerns.
Confronted by this utopist Kaballah-meets-healthy-living blend, Mr. PICKNELL balked initially, but chugged ahead. "It was a bit far-out for me," he says, "but Aileen was fun and I decided to be open-minded about it." He listened to a Wonders tape and was surprised at how much it shared with the self-help books he had explored after his separation.
Only weeks after they had met and with their metaphysical union well under way, he suggested marriage, but Ms. REYES procrastinated. "I was afraid of it and had grown up in the time when a woman could do it all. I said there is no point to marriage, but wondered if I really meant it."
By Christmas Eve, she had reconciled her doubts and accepted his proposal.
The couple circumvented parental promptings for a Catholic ceremony because of Mr. PICKNELL's divorce. Thus, on December 29, 2004, at the Carlu, 150 formally attired guests observed Reverend Tina GABRIEL wed the couple. Mr. GAUDETTE was best man.
The two now share a life that reflects their interest in environmentalism and spirituality.
Since learning that her husband "cycles the city and hadn't owned a car for nine years," Ms. REYES- PICKNELL has disposed of her car. "It was a conscious decision," she says, "but scary."
Having volunteered in the past with Habitat for Humanity in Paraguay and Guatemala, she now works as an activist to help the homeless in Toronto. Her husband, Mr. REYES- PICKNELL (he also changed his name), has joined her in achieving apprentice level four of the Wonders Self-Empowerment teacher program. The newlyweds have merged skills and philosophy to form Conscious Management Incorporated, which motivates individuals to become empowered for change.
The bridegroom's advice to others reflects his personal growth: "Go with your intuitive self. Don't let everyone else's thoughts on how everything ought to be get in the way."

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-06-25 published
Shelly CHAGNON and John DATSERIS -- Match:
By Judith Tenenbaum, Saturday, June 25, 2005, Page M5
Despite co-starring in Eugène Ionesco's Killing Game and being the only two in their 1996 Brock University graduating theatre class chosen as teaching assistants in their final year, Friends Shelly Lynne CHAGNON, and John DATSERIS never explored amour. Opportunity lost, they drifted off, seemingly destined for separate spheres. It was Toronto's storm of the century in January, 1999, that precipitated their romance.
Stranded at her work at the Canadian Stage Company, Ms. CHAGNON, then a Burlington resident, was rescued by performer Peter JULL, a former Brock classmate who lived nearby, and coincidentally was Mr. DATSERIS's new roommate. Despite having worked all night, Mr. DATSERIS, in an act of noblesse oblige, yielded his as-yet-unwrapped queen-sized bed to Ms. CHAGNON. " Shelly got to sleep in my bed before I did," he laughs.
"We were snowed in, and Peter disappeared. It was two days of Survivor, that was the reality," Mr. DATSERIS says. They played charades, read scripts and reminisced. Mr. DATSERIS recalls that by the time Peter returned, the relationship had begun to blossom.
Still, Ms. CHAGNON says, "it took a while to realize we were dating. March 21, we went to an Oscar party of Brock graduates, and... that was our first official date."
The two had been working next to each other for a while by the time of the snowstorm, but their paths had never crossed. Upon graduation, Mr. DATSERIS took an entrepreneurial path while continuing to write. "I began to pursue film on the production side to greater understand producing and the creative process," he said. With an associate, he opened an animation company, Fly Paper Creations, and set up shop at Berkeley Castle next to Canadian Stage, where Ms. CHAGNON was planning special events and fundraisers.
With only a sister and his parents in Canada, Mr. DATSERIS was drawn to Ms. CHAGNON's large French-Canadian family. "They adopted me right away," he says. "There was this synergy, where I fit in. Falling in love with her family made me fall more in love with Shelly."
His father had hoped Mr. DATSERIS would find a Greek girl. "You don't understand," Mr. DATSERIS told him. "Her family might as well be Greek: They are loud, drink, eat great food, love talk, politics and are emotional." His father acquiesced: "Okay, same people."
Their lives began to mesh, but the pair, now both 32, put marriage on hold as they pursued career aspirations. Mr. DATSERIS worked for Brainstorm, a communications agency that purchased his business, for several years, then he moved on to Capital C Communications, where he's now Director Interactive. Ms. CHAGNON ventured to Rogers Television, where she is a publicist, and she also finds time to volunteer for a Scarborough theatre group, Stage Centre Productions. Her accolades include: two 2003 Rogers Impression Awards for Outstanding Promotional Campaign for the Hometown Hockey Campaign and a 2004 Galaxi Award for a Rogers campaign highlighting coverage of the Toronto International Film Festival.
Their first years together were bittersweet. Tragically, Mr. DATSERIS's mother succumbed to cancer, and a year later his father died of the same affliction. "Shelly committed to helping us, not only emotionally but coming to the hospital," he says.
Meanwhile, as the housing market inflated, in May, 2002, they made a practical foray into home ownership on the fringe of the Beaches. "It's small -- we refer to it as Queensbury Cottage. Of course we were house-broke, and couldn't afford a wedding," Ms. CHAGNON chuckles.
The death of her grandmother, the family matriarch, also pushed thoughts of marriage further away. As time went on and their grief subsided, Mr. DATSERIS took the initiative.
He commissioned goldsmith Leif BENNER to design a ring. It was a princess cut diamond, vines and leaves engraved with smaller diamonds inlaid in the vines and leaves spilling onto the side of the ring, and similarly on the wedding band, channel set with square cut diamonds.
However, creativity takes time, and his intended July proposal became an impromptu November, 2004, event.
On June 5, a snake appeared from the ravine at Mississauga's Glenerin Inn just before Reverend Tina GABRIEL performed the nuptials. That aboriginal symbol of life force and sexual potency mirrored the couple's shift in priorities: to begin a family, grow their roots, get closer to extended family, have fun and travel.

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-07-02 published
Irene MONIZ and Liz COATES -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Saturday,▼ July▼ 2, 2005, Page M4
Playing Friday evening broomball on opposite teams 13 years ago, their glances were tentative, and neither Liz COATES nor Irene MONIZ ventured a smile. But they were both instantly attracted to "something in the eyes, a sparkle," recalls Ms. MONIZ.
They'd chatted with Friends over drinks after games, usually about their shared love of nature, and within a month they were dating.
"It got pathetic, to the point that we were on the phone late into the night," says Ms. MONIZ, who six months later affectionately welcomed Ms. COATES into her home in Brampton and into her life -- which included her eight-year-old twin boys, Brandon and Christian.
"The transition was so easy that no one was aware that there was a transition," she says. "The boys regarded Liz with as much affection as me. It was a matter of whose lap they'd sit on watching television, or reading a book."
Ms. COATES got Brandon into hockey, both boys into baseball, and with their mother, encouraged them to play soccer and enjoy camping. Soon, their father, whom the boys visited frequently, also fondly accepted Ms. COATES.
"Everything she does she puts her whole being into," Ms. MONIZ, 44, says of her partner of over a decade. "So many people, all different kinds, care for her. Her personality overwhelmed me."
The couple with a fondness for the outdoors also had dreams of owning property in the country. So eight years ago, they "cornered off a little piece of the world where we can hang out," 45 acres atop the Beaver Valley in Collingwood, Ontario "We've taken in backhoes and bobcats, and tailored it to be this fabulous place," enthuses Ms. MONIZ, a construction company manager. "We have trails, trout ponds, gigantic raised gardens, and go up through the winter."
"We spend most of our time and energy there. People know they can drop in any time and are always welcome. Irene is a great cook," beams Ms. COATES, 41, a pre-press manager.
As parents, they'd survived the usual battery of worries raising two young children, as well as some not-so-usual ones. Regularly, large groups of neighbourhood children congregated at the couple's home. "Most of the time there never was a problem," Ms. MONIZ says. But "when the word got out our family was a little different, the boys were picked on and teased."
She was summoned to meet with a school panel: psychologists, teachers, the guidance counsellor and the principal.
"People fear what they don't know. Even though our families are just the same as theirs, most people haven't had a chance to find that out." The school had wanted to punish the offenders, but a conciliatory Ms. MONIZ suggested a more subtle approach. She volunteered for school trips, where she "had the young [rascals] in my group, and ironed it out right away."
Despite vestiges of societal sanctimony, she is a veteran volunteer for the March of Dimes and Co-op Education in Peel. "We do little private things here and there. Just a home-cooked meal, a little note on a voice mail," she adds, convinced that kindness is the greatest gift anyone can bestow.
Brandon and Christian's teenage years proved to be a pivotal point for their mother and her partner as well. "It was a struggle," Ms. COATES recalls. "We were interested in having a solid relationship and felt anything can be worked through. Irene is the only person that I've ever met that when we have an argument it doesn't mean we're breaking up. We made it through kids and that's a tough one when you're not the actual parent. As a couple you're stronger for it."
Last year, the twins hit their early twenties and headed west for career opportunities in Calgary, leaving the couple with an empty nest. Alone for the first time, they renovated their entire house. "We are quiet people, have good Friends and live a really good life," says Ms. COATES. " We've had a great year, having fun, back to who we were when the kids were younger."
"We wanted to be married, in bliss. It didn't have anything to do with the law changing," says Ms. MONIZ.
Ambivalent about what path to follow, and convinced by a friend that they'd regret eloping, the pair formalized a wedding in two weeks. ("What are you doing next Friday?" Ms. COATES asked her family.) Everything fell into place, including rings that fit without sizing. And the delighted couple were both unexpectedly feted with bridal showers by their respective colleagues. "We are very open to our companies and nobody has a problem with it," Ms COATES says. "Act like a normal person. You don't need to hide anything. You are a couple. People see that."
On May 27, at Mississauga Civic Centre, before an intimate gathering of parents and siblings, the Reverend Tina GABRIEL performed their nuptials. A cozy reception followed at Bassano Ristorante in Brampton. "It was magical," Ms. MONIZ says tenderly, "Together for 13 years, we've become family with everybody. Our parents adore each other, mine adore Liz and hers love me. I don't think I've seen so many people cry at a wedding in my entire life."

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-07-30 published
Karlyn TUNBRIDGE and David PATON -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Saturday,▲▼ July▲ 30, 2005, Page M4
It took just two weeks for Karlyn Helen Maureen TUNBRIDGE and David Cameron PATON to start talking about getting married. Two months later, they were engaged.
In March of 2004, after spending nine hours toiling on a summer program brochure, Ms. TUNBRIDGE, now 34, an employee with the Toronto parks and recreation department, decided to log on to an Internet dating service she had recently joined.
The screen name Haggis McBagus caught her eye. Assuming he might share her Scottish background, she immediately arranged an exchange of phone numbers. On her transit ride home, she called his cellphone and caught him as he was walking his dog.
Their casual conversation lasted until midnight, concluding with his invitation to dinner the next evening. She accepted, but asked that he e-mail her a photo. "I really didn't like his picture," she says. "But he was making me laugh, and I enjoyed talking to him, so I didn't care."
When he arrived, however, flowers in hand, Mr. PATON didn't look anything like he did in the photograph, she says. He reminded her of race-car driver Paul Tracy.
The two hit it off instantly.
"There was an automatic comfort level," Mr. PATON, 39, recalls. "On a first date, there are those long periods of silence, and we didn't have that. We weren't 25-year-olds who had to explore what we wanted in a relationship."
Despite some unusual circumstances, Ms. TUNBRIDGE says it was love at first sight.
"David was in the beginning stages of divorce and I hadn't been in a relationship in a long time," she says. "Sitting across the table, I just knew, and we started talking about getting married within two weeks."
Although her mother was worried and skeptical, her fears dissipated after learning Mr. PATON was from her birthplace of Paisley, Scotland. Her sister, Stephanie, was reassured after he declared his honourable intentions. Anticipating an engagement ring, an excited Ms. TUNBRIDGE began scoping out wedding sites. Enthusiastic about the West Rouge Community Centre, she suffered an emotional meltdown when Mr. PATON, in a playful ruse, apologized that he couldn't afford a ring.
Then he dramatically produced one, and asked her to marry him.
"Get out of here," she replied.
Emphatically, he repeated the question, and she tearfully accepted. It was the May long weekend -- only two months after they had met.
It might seem like a snap decision, but Ms. TUNBRIDGE has always been one to follow her heart.
She had originally worked at a bank, but did not enjoy it. When a friend offered her a summer job at a wading pool and playground, Ms. TUNBRIDGE, who loves children, jumped at the chance, despite the low pay and part-time hours.
It was a perfect fit for her, since she has a deep affection for the outdoors. "I love the beach, camp, the cottage, and pretty much grew up in a canoe. My father had me on the water before I was walking," she says.
To become a children's recreation expert, she went to Centennial College and got a recreation scholarship, then moved to George Brown as a full-time student while juggling a job and her studies.
She now facilitates the training of staff for more than 30 summer camps, while finding time to volunteer with Fashion Cares, the A.I.D.S. Walk and the Toronto Youth Games.
Currently in the midst of a career change, Mr. PATON's passions included Manchester United, Saturday United Kingdom soccer, and, to the chagrin of Ms. TUNBRIDGE, collecting Star Trek memorabilia.
The pair are perfect foils. "I'm a little off-the-wall wacky at times, and David is much more serious. I have this crazy laugh, a lot of different Friends, and David is a homebody. He helps ground me, and I help him to let go," Ms. TUNBRIDGE says.
Their wedding invitation specified "a no-tie or dress-up event. You could show up in your Speedo if you wanted to," Ms. TUNBRIDGE says.
For her part, she took advantage of the chance to wear flip-flops down the aisle, beneath her white dress.
"I'm mildly obsessed with flip-flops. They are comfortable, cool, summer, the epitome of everything fun. I start wearing them in March and they come off in October," she says.
"She not only has flip-flop shoes, but flip-flop pendants... anything with a flip-flop design," Mr. PATON says with a laugh.
On a steamy June 25, the kilt-clad bridegroom, groomsmen in white shirts and khaki pants, bridesmaids, including four flower girls all in pink with pink flip-flops, three ring bearers sporting Hawaiian shirts, and 110 guests were assembled on Rouge Beach.
A piper and the rhythmic tapping of her flip-flops announced the bride as she sauntered down a sandy aisle, which was decorated by an inventive Mr. PATON and his best man, Ehren MENDUM, with eye-catching gigantic pink faux gerbera and sunflowers obtained that morning from the dollar store.
Rev. Tina GABRIEL performed the nuptials and the Sons of Beaches, a rock 'n' roll band made up of City of Toronto employees, played at the reception.
The couple are now renovating the Guildwood Village home where Ms. TUNBRIDGE was raised. "I loved growing up here," she says of the leafy half-acre property atop the Scarborough Bluffs that they purchased from her father.
She is hoping to soon join the area's constituency of soccer moms.

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-12-24 published
Mark Andrew SYKES and Marlene Marie Alicia BONIA -- Match
By Judith TENENBAUM, Saturday,▲▼ December▼ 24, 2005, Page M4
A focus on algebra and isosceles triangles shifted to a more personal dimension when Marlene BONIA and Mark SYKES met in a Grade 10 math class in 1998. "I noticed him because of his English accent and because he was fresh in the country," she recalls.
A year and a half later, Friendship and casual dating had evolved into a relationship reminiscent of those bobby-sox teen flicks of the Sixties. Soon, love would trump logic when the teenagers sealed their future with a secret engagement.
"We realized we had similar goals and beliefs," Ms. BONIA explains. "Mark said he wanted to get married, but our parents wouldn't understand -- we were too young -- and he gave me a gold band with a tiny row of little diamonds."
They would ensconce the secret in their hearts and minds for almost four years. "It was something between an engagement and a promise ring -- an equal commitment," says Mr. SYKES, who was raised near Bristol, England. "I know people who have found somebody they really love, but they say they are too young, have too much to do, and let them go. Down the line, they've grown up and realized it's a big mistake."
Initially, the shy Mr. SYKES had been intimidated by Ms. BONIA's home life, which bristled with inquisitive and energized siblings and extended family. But after nearly two years, he started coming around. "I loved her family and their taking me in," he says.
In June, 2003, Mr. SYKES was a year from graduating in civil engineering at Humber College and gaining full-time employment with Shaheen and Peaker Ltd. when he decided to propose. "I think Mark won us over when he invited my husband Jim and I for coffee and asked our permission," says Ms. BONIA's mother, Laura. "We were pleased it would be a long engagement and they would both finish school first."
Thus, up in cottage country, Mr. SYKES, now 24, chose a picturesque spot and made the engagement official. "I was really nervous but happy it was final -- our Friends and family would know we had made a commitment and were getting married."
Family describe them adoring and quietly devoted. "She does everything for me; we're soul mates and best Friends," Mr. SYKES says.
"He's the most giving person I ever met. Caring, thoughtful and always two steps ahead of me to make sure I'm looked after," says Ms. BONIA, now 23, an English graduate from York University and a strategic assistant for Krcmar Surveyors Ltd.
Determined to pay for their own wedding, the couple enthusiastically and successfully scrimped and saved for the elegant affair Ms. BONIA had long envisioned. Thrift became their byword. "We both lived with our parents through university and college saving every penny for the wedding, and we didn't go away or even out for dinner," Ms. BONIA says.
The stately Graydon Hall Manor in Don Mills, a century-old mansion with 11 fireplaces and expansive stone terrace, would house the ceremony and reception.
On September 10, bridesmaids entered its chapel to strains of Bach on violin and harp. Then, Pachelbel's Canon in D announced the bride in a Maggie Sottero satin-and-lace creation, and Rev. Tina GABRIEL performed the nuptials.
The newlyweds, who reside in Aurora, have laid out an ambitious agenda: "Homeownership in five years, children in seven, and lots of travel," says the new Mrs. SYKES.

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-03-04 published
Amanda Maria DERVAITIS and Matthew Stephen CASSAN -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Page▼ M6
Just one look was all it took for Amanda DERVAITIS to fall for Matthew CASSAN, whose brother, Jim, was the high-school sweetheart of her cousin, Laura VANDERLAAN, and also an acquaintance of hers.
The threesome often visited the CASSAN household, where Ms. DERVAITIS remembers admiring family photos. "I said to Jim, 'Wow, your brother is so cute!' But I'd never met him. It was a weird crush," she explains. Not to mention that Mr. CASSAN was in a relationship at the time.
Then, in December, 2000, the plucky Ms. DERVAITIS tagged along with her cousin to a surprise birthday party for the object of her unrequited affections -- hosted by Mr. CASSAN's girlfriend. Undeterred by that salient detail, she admits to "changing six times" before she was ready for the event. Face to face with Mr. CASSAN, at last, she had to cut the banter short when she realized she had been monopolizing the guest of honour.
The following spring, Ms. DERVAITIS, who has a bachelor of education from McGill University and was working at a Toronto learning centre, was in urgent need of a break after "one of the worst weeks in my life." So her cousin, Laura, and Laura's boyfriend, Jim, offered her solace at his family's cottage. There they encountered Mr. CASSAN, who had just completed his animation studies at Sheridan College. Happily for Ms. DERVAITIS, he was now unattached.
Long-time cottagers, Mr. CASSAN and Ms. DERVAITIS saw nothing untoward in sharing quarters. "We got the bunk room," she explains. All night long, they talked about their lives, commitment to environmental issues and favourite pastimes, including Looney Tunes and Samurai Jack.
"It was like a sleepover, when you were a kid," Mr. CASSAN remembers, chuckling.
"My face hurt from smiling so much," Ms. DERVAITIS says, beaming.
Back home, the magic lingered. Mr. CASSAN resolved "to move slowly," then called before the requisite 24 hours were up. Three days later, on a first date together, they watched animated shorts together at a bar. "Growing up, I loved cartoons," Ms. DERVAITIS confides. "Then Matt came along, I was completely enamoured&hellip and he was an animator."
They were inseparable through the summer, and their love was tested when Mr. CASSAN took a job in Halifax and Ms. DERVAITIS returned to school in Montreal that fall. For further studies in speech pathology, she "only applied to Dalhousie. I wasn't willing to go anywhere else." Denied admission due to limited enrolment, she journeyed to Halifax anyway, clerking in a mall and then working as a tutor.
In April, 2003, Mr. CASSAN's animation studio shut down unexpectedly. Three weeks later, the two packed everything into a U-Haul and returned to Ontario. Their impecunious struggles continued until the following October, when Mr. CASSAN landed a job at Smiley Guy Studios in downtown Toronto. In January, 2004, Ms. DERVAITIS, now 27, began training in order to open her own Oxford Learning Centre in High Park.
In June, 2005, a planned first-ever vacation by Smart car to Newfoundland stalled with reports of frigid weather.
So instead Mr. CASSAN splurged on a Dominican package, using funds he had earmarked for a diamond ring.
Frolicking in the Caribbean, Ms. DERVAITIS assumed a spontaneous proposal was whimsical until Mr. CASSAN's pleadings became so heartfelt that they were both overcome with emotion. In the end, the promise was sealed with an $8 ring, a hotel purchase that has not left Ms. DERVAITIS's hand since then.
December 31, 2005, saw a tripartite event at the Trident Banquet Hall in Toronto: the bridegroom's 30th birthday celebration, a black-and-silver themed New Year's Eve fete and the couple's nuptials, performed by Reverend Tina GABRIEL.
The bride's mother, Lucy BELVEDERE, observes: "They are very much in sync, and their openness keeps them in tune with each other.
"Amanda followed her heart."

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-03-25 published
Joanna Christine SHEPPARD and Bethan Claire KINGSLEY -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Page▲▼ M6
When Joanna SHEPPARD, a graduate student at Brock University in St. Catharines, promised to find lodging for a work-placement visitor from England, she never dreamed that place would be in her heart.
Bethan KINGSLEY, a student in sports and recreation development at Leeds Metropolitan University, arrived at Brock in January, 2004, just as Ms. SHEPPARD returned from an academic conference in Australia -- having forgotten all about the promise she had made.
"I went running into the office, and said if you need a place to stay or anything, I have a car," she recalls.
A Friendship flourished as they chummed together with other students, and there was "a quick connection," Ms. SHEPPARD adds. Then, when Ms. KINGSLEY's sister visited and the three of them made a trip to Niagara Falls, "we felt there was more." But they were considerate of other existing relationships.
After six weeks Ms. KINGSLEY returned to England, where a plethora of calls and e-mail confirmed ardent feelings on both sides.
On Ms. KINGSLEY's return to Canada the following summer, to work at a Young Men's Christian Association camp, both women were "single and free." Aware of the pitfalls of e-enchantment, however, Ms. KINGSLEY arrived steeled for a moment of truth.
"What if I had created a Joanna who wasn't the real person, and she had done the same?" she remembers thinking, and yet… "When we saw each other at the airport, we knew."
"We hugged and kissed," Ms. SHEPPARD emotes. "Everybody could have been staring at us…" But for the two of them it seemed as if there was no one else around.
The duo was almost inseparable for two weeks, until suddenly Ms. KINGSLEY felt they needed a breather. "I finished work, decided to go home, not see Jo and do something else," she remembers, but fate would have no part of that. As she cycled home that day, a tumble left her scraped, bruised -- and summoning Ms. SHEPPARD. "She came round to my place, and I never tried it again," Ms. KINGSLEY explains with a chuckle.
That summer, the couple motored through Southern Ontario and then headed to Montreal. According to Ms. SHEPPARD, they "camped out and did all the touristy things. It was nice to sit beside the fire not having to say anything."
In November, 2004, Ms. SHEPPARD made a quick jaunt to visit Ms. KINGSLEY, who had returned to Leeds to complete her studies. The two visited with family, took in some rugby and enjoyed a Paris weekend. "It was exciting for me to see how Bethan lived [in England] and what she was about," Ms. SHEPPARD says.
Ms. KINGSLEY was exactly the Anne of Green Gables kindred spirit that Ms. SHEPPARD's mother had often fantasized about for her daughter. The following May, upon graduation, Ms. KINGSLEY joined Ms. SHEPPARD here again.
Labour Day, 2005, on the beach in Port Dalhousie, Ms. SHEPPARD resolved the nuances of a proposal without melodramatics. "It was pretty much, who was going to start talking first. I started, proposed… She said yes."
Now 22, Ms. KINGSLEY is a teaching assistant at Brock, where she begins a master's degree this fall.
Ms. SHEPPARD, 26, who has a string of academic awards, is pursuing a PhD in education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. This April, under the auspices of the Scotiabank Champions for Health Promoting Schools, she will accompany a team of Ontario Institute for Studies in Education students, including Ms. KINGSLEY, to the Caribbean to participate in a collaborative "healthier-living" project with local school and community leaders.
On February 17, at the Old Mill, Ms. KINGSLEY wore a gold silk gown from Chinatown and Ms. SHEPPARD dressed in brown tweed to exchange their vows before the Rev. Tina GABRIEL and 42 guests. "It's comforting every time I look into Bethan's eyes. I look into her soul and can feel everything she's feeling," says the former Ms. SHEPPARD.
The couple has taken the surname KINGSLEY- SHEPPARD.

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-04-29 published
Jennifer Rebecca HERBERTSON and Peter Raymond GONDOS -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Page▲▼ M5
Even as social networking has yielded to the Net and a currency of smiley faces has supplanted friendly cocktails, finding a cyber soulmate remains as chancy as a roll of the dice. And yet, Rebecca HERBERTSON and Peter GONDOS came up winners.
"The older you are," Ms. HERBERTSON believes, the less inclined you become "to pick up anybody at a bar or club -- and dating at work is not advisable." Her eventual solution was to dabble at two dating sites for almost a year. "I dated a lot, one-night dates, out for drinks, dinner, and nothing clicked. I saw a couple of people a few times, but we were trying too hard."
In April, 2004, a forthright profile and e-smile from Mr. GONDOS piqued her interest, but a less-than-complimentary arm's-length photo he had snapped of himself had her thinking twice. Two months later, disillusioned by "all of the inappropriate men" she was meeting and about to erase her bio, she noticed a familiar profile while having a last glance at her second site. "I checked out the picture, which had been updated, and it was indeed the same person [Mr. GONDOS]." With her remaining credits, she clicked hello.
For his part, the convivial Mr. GONDOS was still reeling from an encounter with someone else the previous week. He was stunned, but all the same, he recalls, "I thought I would just keep trying." New to e-dating, he had found personal encounters disappointing. On-line profiles were often so embellished that they scarcely resembled the individuals he'd meet.
After several e-mail messages and two long phone chats, wary but ever optimistic, they met on June 8, 2004. Mr. GONDOS bestowed a huge hug and long-stemmed roses on his date. "We popped into a local pub, held hands the entire evening, and it was like we had been together for years," says Ms. HERBERTSON, who is now 38. "When I met Peter, it was a coup de foudre, like a lightning bolt."
"We just knew," Mr. GONDOS adds, recalling the moment.
Over the next several months, the couple bonded with each other's families, found they shared a sense of humour ("on the dark side"), and enjoyed karaoke evenings at Mighty Mike's, a High Park pub where he DJ'd part-time.
By December, 2004, Mr. GONDOS, who is employed by Handyman Matters, had reached a decision: "I liked to hang out with her a little more than dating, so why not make it official?" On Christmas Eve, with some anxiety, he offered her two small gift boxes, both containing jewellery and one of them holding a diamond ring. "That's as close as I could get to a proposal," he says.
At the time, Ms. HERBERTSON, the office administrator for Fieldgate Developments, was saddened by two family deaths and further unnerved by a parent's illness, so she chose to delay a wedding. But then, as skies brightened, she was ready to forge a plan.
The "freckly redheaded" couple's April 1 wedding invitations whimsically proclaimed, "No more fooling around." Having first found silver-filigreed, lavender silk shoes, the bride banked on locating a matching gown, plus appropriate fabric for dresses for nieces Samantha, Erika and Alexandra SCHWAB, the flower girls. The bridegroom sported a lavender shirt accented by a pewter-and-purple tie.
Brother Mike, who built the wedding arch, was leery that an altar-shy Mr. GONDOS, 41, would actually stand beneath it. But he was proved wrong, and so Rev. Tina GABRIEL officiated before 51 Friends and family members at the Delta East Toronto Hotel.
"The Net is a great way of meeting people," enthuses the new Mrs. GONDOS. "And if you meet the man or woman of your dreams, good for you!"

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-05-06 published
Jillian WIEBE and Todd AMBACHTSHEER -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Page▲▼ M5
Five years ago, Yael WOODWARD planned a barbecue, hoping that it would ignite a romance between her Friends Jillian WIEBE and Todd AMBACHTSHEER, who were until then only fleetingly acquainted. Unwilling to be undone by high-rise fire regulations, a resourceful Mrs. WOODWARD dragged home "a contraption that looked like a giant garbage can" and smoked a turkey all day in honour of the occasion.
After teaching English in Japan for a year, Ms. WIEBE had returned to Canada at loose ends, and that July, 2001, she was apartment hunting in Toronto. Mr. AMBACHTSHEER, a vegetarian and seemingly her antithesis, had nonetheless, by the end of the evening, sparked her interest -- which she subtly conveyed to her hostess. "Yael whooped for joy, did a little dance and said that was her goal."
After their official one-year anniversary of dating went unheeded by Mr. AMBACHTSHEER, Ms. WIEBE wondered if "he wasn't into me as much as I was into him." So her spirits soared that November, when he requested she pack a bag, then whisked her off to New York.
Tickets to Romeo and Juliet, a later gesture, also thrilled Ms. WIEBE, who had been a dancer for 14 years. The surprise bore additional fruit when Mr. AMBACHTSHEER developed a passion for ballet as a result.
The turnabout wasn't as successful when she joined a group of his Friends in Killarney Provincial Park for her first -- and so far, only -- camping experience. "I'd never canoed to camp and we were on our own, canoeing into the wind," Mr. AMBACHTSHEER recalls. "It was a bit of a baptism by fire." His admiration for his girlfriend, who never complained despite non-stop pelting rain, increased still more.
A 1999 graduate in film studies from the University of Western Ontario, Ms. WIEBE soon realized that work in her chosen field, though a labour of love, often resulted in poverty. Currently, she is a patient-care co-ordinator at the Institute of Cosmetic Surgery. With an added diploma in makeup art, however, she remains connected to her academic background, freelancing for stage and cinema.
A refreshing change from "neurotic, artsy" suitors Ms. WIEBE had previously encountered, Mr. AMBACHTSHEER made her feel "safe and secure." But for the honours B.A. graduate of the University of Western Ontario's Richard Ivey School of Business, who is presently a manager of transaction advisory services for Ernst and Young, a definitive commitment wasn't immediately on his balance sheet.
In September, 2004, a European holiday made Ms. WIEBE optimistic. "Every day that passed, momentous things happened. We were on top of the Eiffel Tower, and I thought -- now!" Nuptials unmentioned, the trip ended, and so she embraced the adage "expect nothing and you won't be disappointed." But by New Year's, when three other couples they knew had all announced their engagements, she drew the line.
"I rehearsed a calm, succinct speech," she recalls, and two days later she asked him about his intentions, including a request for a time frame. Little did she know that his cryptic "within the year" response was tied to another surprise he was working on.
Inadvertently, she set the scene by suggesting a Centre Island picnic, and as they basked on the grass, a sunny April 16 became memorable. "I want to look at you -- you make me very happy," said Mr. AMBACHTSHEER, who is now 31. Sensing an unfamiliar tone in his voice, she stared as he proffered a ring. Giddy with happiness, the two then tore off to play Frisbee.
A year later, on April 15, 2006, at the University of Toronto's Victoria College chapel, the two exchanged their vows before Rev. Tina GABRIEL and received guests at Biagio Ristorante.
"Todd and I are different, and we love debates, but we agree on all the things that matter," says Mrs. AMBACHTSHEER, 30.

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GABRIEL m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2006-05-27 published
Laura Brigitte LOIJENS and Jesse Adam CLARK -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Page▲ M4
Romance is tested if two hearts beat to different drummers. In 1997, when Laura LOIJENS was introduced to Jesse CLARK at the pub in Clark Hall, a landmark at Queen's University, she mused at the nominal coincidence and saw him as "funny, intelligent" and not like so many of the other young men she had met.
"She was smart, pretty and nice. I called her the next day, and on our first date I was nervous and a total idiot," Mr. CLARK confesses. For all that, the couple were soon "mutually exclusive." After graduating in 1998 in honours English, Mr. CLARK quickly concluded that a writing career would be problematic. Coming from a musical family, he had exhibited talent in choirs and singing opera as a youth. "I've always loved classical music, and it got its hooks back into me," he explains, and so he entered the opera program at the University of Toronto, eventually launching a career as a performer.
Meanwhile, Laura LOIJENS, who earned the highest marks for 1998 in nursing science, heeded parental advice and, using nursing as a portal, gained acceptance into medicine -- also at the University of Toronto.
"Laura knew very little about English literature, and I knew less about nursing," Mr. CLARK says, laughing as he remembers their early years together. "In keeping with this theme, nine years later, Laura knows very little about opera and I know less about medicine."
Today, they continue to juggle careers and companionship. He tours with various opera ensembles and she adopts a locum approach to family practice. Locums provide relief for local doctors based in small or remote communities, and the underlying hope is that visiting doctors may enjoy their short-term stints so much that they decide to locate there permanently. "I like to travel and see new places in Ontario and around Canada. This way you set your own schedule," explains Ms. LOIJENS, who believes her locum work also provides an opportunity to explore diverse medical approaches.
"Our relationship is a work in progress. It's not always puppy dogs and ice cream," Mr. CLARK says. "The hardest part is what I call re-entry, when you get back from somewhere. In my business, you have this artistic high, and for the first couple of days [afterward] it's awkward being with another person, even though you love her. From an individual mindset to get back into that couple lifestyle is difficult."
"When you are apart so much, you have to trust each other, because you meet so many people," Ms. LOIJENS observes. "It takes effort and patience, but I love it. It would be so boring being married to another doctor."
In aid of this relationship philosophy, they manage to arrange mutual "vacations" -- and increase their understanding -- by occasionally spending time at each other's work locations. Both want children, but for a long time they felt that marriage was not a prerequisite. Until one day, completely on a whim, Mr. CLARK "woke up and thought, 'I'm going to buy a ring and surprise her.'"
On June 25, 2005, as they strolled through Kay Gardner Beltline Park, Ms. LOIJENS recalls, "We were chatting away, and suddenly I realized I was talking to myself. I looked around and Jesse was kneeling, holding a box, and he said I had to open it."
Fascinated by old bank buildings and seeking a funky and not exorbitant wedding venue, the couple were enamoured with the Ontario Heritage Centre on Adelaide Street, an authentically restored 1909 Edwardian banking hall.
"A modern civil ceremony is a public declaration and there has to be a certain grandeur, but it doesn't have to involve big, puffy, meringue dresses," Mr. CLARK says with a chuckle.
During the April 19 evening nuptials, before Rev. Tina GABRIEL, the bride became Doctor Laura CLARK. Now, if the newlyweds can find a Rossini opera with a role for a non-singing doctor, things will really come together.

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GABRIELE m@ca.on.simcoe_county.nottawasaga.stayner.stayner_sun 2008-04-09 published
DONER / EIGENHUIS
Buck and Doe - 80's Theme for Brittany DONER and Jeremy EIGENHUIS
Held on April 26th, 2008, Brentwood Community Centre.
Doors open at 8 p.m. Tickets available at the door $10.00 per person.
Music provided by Angelo GABRIELE
"Age Of Majority Only"
Page 10

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GAGEN m@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-07-01 published
GAGEN / DOWLER
The families of Kris and Bart are pleased to announce their recent engagement and forthcoming marriage. The wedding will take place summer of 2007.

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GAGNÉ m@ca.on.manitoulin.howland.little_current.manitoulin_expositor 2001-01-17 published
GAGNÉ- MORPHET
Jason GAGNÉ and Michelle MORPHET on September 2 2000.
Daughter of Eric and Sheila MORPHET, granddaughter of Evelyn MORPHET
son of John and Lizette GAGNÉ

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GAGNÉ m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.toronto_star 2003-01-25 published
GAGNÉ / SCHNEIDER
Deborah and Bernard exchanged vows of love on Saturday, January 18, 2003 Toronto. Best of Luck from family and Friends.

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GALBRAITH m@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-06-25 published
GALBRAITH, Joan and Bob - Happy 50th Anniversary
June 25, 2005
Best wishes and love from your family and Friends.

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GALE m@ca.on.grey_county.artemesia.flesherton.the_flesherton_advance 2005-05-18 published
GALE / LONG
Buck and Doe for Tanisha GALE and Bryan LONG
May 28, 2005 9.00 p.m. to 1: 00 a.m.
Dundalk Community Arena (upstairs)
Tickets $6.00 at Door
Page 2

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GALL m@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-07-15 published
KENNEDY / GALL
The families of Erin KENNEDY and Jeff GALL are thrilled to announce their marriage to be held today, July 15, 2006 in London, Ontario. Much love to you both.

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GALLAGHER m@ca.on.grey_county.artemesia.flesherton.the_flesherton_advance 2008-05-14 published
GALLAGHER, Keith and Shirley - Happy 45th Anniversary
Love your family. Rod and Valerie, Zach, Riley and Justin, Doug and Lois, Nicole and Paige
Page 12

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GALLAGHER m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2007-06-09 published
GALLAGHER / MOORE
Married on Saturday, April 28 at St. Alban the Martyr Church in Ottawa were John P. MOORE, writer and editor, and Dawna GALLAGHER, artist and historian. The attendants were Meredith HUTCHINGS, Lachlan MacLEOD and Paul MOORE, all of Halifax. The couple will reside in Ottawa. Thanks and greetings to family, Friends, and colleagues.

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GALLANT m@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2006-11-03 published
GALLANT, John and Chris - 50th Wedding Anniversary
Open House November 5, 2006 Saint Marys Room, All Saints Church 124 Front St. E Strathroy, Ontario., 1-5 p.m. Best Wishes Only.

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GALLOWAY m@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2005-07-30 published
GALLOWAY, Margaret and Bob - 60th Anniversary
To celebrate this happy occasion, family, Friends and neighbours are invited to an Open House at the Community of Christ Church, 615 Colborne Street, London.
Saturday, August 6, 2005, 2 p.m.-4 p.m.
Best Wishes Only.

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GALLOWAY m@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2005-12-03 published
Airin Calder STEPHENS and Charles Zalman LEVKOE -- Match:
By Judith TENENBAUM, Saturday,▲ December▲ 3, 2005, Page M6
Airin STEPHENS and Charles LEVKOE swim with their own current of spiritual and environmental enlightenment. In November, 1997, Mr. LEVKOE was back from a three-month stint in Ghana with Youth Challenge International, an umbrella group dedicated to peace and the environment, and working in Toronto recruiting staff for another project. Candidates were to rough it at a weekend selection session where Ms. STEPHENS was a last-minute volunteer cook.
Friday evening, they broke the ice with a parlour game: Name your favourite scent. After other innocuous answers, Mr. LEVKOE proffered his choice: "Someone you love has stayed overnight, and left in the morning before you've woken up, leaving an article of clothing that smells like them." Intrigued by his candour, Ms. STEPHENS was anxious to meet him.
The next evening, "We were in tuques, mitts and warm layers around the campfire," she says. "I just started talking to this guy and we had a beautiful conversation under the moon. It was magical, but I never got his name." The next day, she saw that it was Mr. LEVKOE.
At the time, both were students and in other relationships, but remained Friends. In December, 1998, they celebrated winter solstice in the tradition of John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club: "Hiking from when the sun rises until it sets," Mr. LEVKOE says.
When their trek was over, as she drove him to his bus, an emotional arc supplanted platonic bliss. "We just looked at each other, and there was this intensity," she says. But six months later, he left for Israel on a two-year peace initiative project, and she left for an ecological study in Alberta.
Mr. LEVKOE briefly returned in February, 2000, and they snatched a week at a cabin north of Toronto. "We realized who we were, whom we wanted to live and grow old with, share and discover," she says. That summer, her visit to the Middle East reaffirmed their feelings and accelerated his return.
"We decided to prioritize our relationship and explore the rural East Coast," Ms. STEPHENS says. There, they worked hands-on while explaining the benefits of organic farming and sustainable building.
"We were together 24/7, a beautiful, simple life living on this little island off the coast of New Brunswick," she says.
But the pull of graduate school in environmental studies for Mr. LEVKOE, and teachers college for Ms. STEPHENS, found them back in Toronto. In February, the couple -- whose Friends claimed they would never marry -- reflected in an isolated cabin, once again under winter's spell. They decided to declare their love publicly in a Brit Ahavah (Covenant of Love) ceremony before family and Friends.
A private City Hall marriage on May 27 led to a celebratory August 26 weekend at the Riverstone Retreat Centre in Durham. Many of the 260 guests camped, hiked, tubed, played volleyball and shared a potluck dinner.
The ceremony, Mr. LEVKOE says, "was trying to find a way to bring together my Jewish and Airin's Ukrainian background."
After contemporary renderings of the seven blessings by Friends, co-officiants Carly STEINMAN and Suzanne GALLOWAY moved with the bridal party and the chuppah to an open field, where the entire group encircled them, holding hands. Guests planted native species in a stream restoration project before the commencement of festivities.
Ms. STEPHENS now teaches at George Harvey Collegiate Institute and Mr. LEVKOE is an urban agriculture co-ordinator at the Stop Community Food Centre.
The couple, both 30, live in a communal home.
"Recently, we invested in an organic farm where we will not be connected to the power grid," Mr. LEVKOE says. "We live our values and act on what we believe."

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GARAGOZZO m@ca.on.middlesex_county.london.london_free_press 2003-09-20 published
GARAGOZZO / RATELLE
The families of Richard GARAGOZZO and Nicole RATELLE wish to announce their forthcoming marriage. Richard is the son of Mrs. Carla GARAGOZZO and the late Joe GARAGOZZO and Nicole is the daughter of Ms. Fernande RATELLE. The wedding will take place on September 27, 2003 at 4: 00 in the afternoon at Dundas United Church, London.

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GA surnames continued to m200ga02.htm