Love will keep us together

Published 10:24 am Wednesday, February 5, 2014

After three weeks of dating, Ed and Kristin knew that they wanted to get married. So they did. Three months after Ed proposed they eloped to Colorado. Kristin recalls with a laugh that the judge had to sentence a few men in orange jumpsuits before making the Wilsons a legally wed couple. What also made the day memorable is that it was Friday the 13th.

“We celebrate every Friday the 13th when we remember,” said Ed.

“And we usually remember,” added Kristin with a smile.

Now 28 years later they reflect on how they fell in love and what kept them in love through all the years.

Ed and Kristin met in Kansas City in 1985. Ed owned an advertising business “Ed Wilson, Writer” and Kristin was the communications director at a local hospital.

“He was really famous in Kansas City,” Kristin recalled.

Ed was handling the hospital’s advertising account when he met Kristin on her first day on the job. They were both attracted to one another, but felt that dating might negatively affect their work.

“I just thought he was so great and so smart,” said Kristin.

When Ed looks back on that day he remembers beating his hands on his steering wheel in frustration because he didn’t believe in dating in the work place.

The Wilsons now joke that they showed great restraint by waiting for a month and a half to pass before they started dating.

“I was very attracted to his mind and he had a terrific sense of humor,” said Kristin. “And he was very romantic.”

She still has the lilacs Ed gave her early on in their relationship.

“After the first week I knew he was in love,” said Kristin, remembering how Ed gave her a cassette tape expressing his feelings. Side one of the tape was called “subtle,” the other was called “not so subtle.” Songs included Randy Newman’s  “You Can Leave Your Hat On.”

Also in the first few weeks together they laid down the blueprints of their lives. Ed’s business was important to him, but he made it clear that it would never take priority over Kristin’s career. They wanted to travel, which they did by often taking advantage of Ed’s frequent flyer miles. Kristin regularly joined Ed on his business trips. The new couple also decided that they “could go either way” when it came to future children. Ed had a daughter from a previous marriage.

As the years passed, Kristin felt a growing sense that she wanted to have a child. Ed, on the other hand, was unsure. For years, this question remained in the background of daily life. Kristin remembers one day they were having an argument about whether to adopt a dog and Kristin got out of the car, slammed the door and walked the way home. She wanted to bring a dog into the family and Ed wasn’t sure if he wanted to do the same.

But despite any conflict in the relationship they pushed forward.

“We’ve always had a lot of patience and tolerance for one another,” said Kristin. “At times we have had different opinions, but we always gave things time.”

Ed said that he has always had a high regard for Kristin’s intelligence. If there was something they did not agree on he would have to really think about his decision or find a better way to present his side of the argument.

They moved to Orcas in 1990 and 12 years later decided to wind down their business and expand their family by adopting a baby girl from China. The Wilsons said adopting Paris was the best choice they had made together.

“It’s truly the most thrilling adventure,” said Kristin.

Some of those adventures with Paris involved the theater.

Ed, Kristin and Paris have been in two shows as a family – the first Enchanted Forest cabaret show and “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

Kristin was a theater major in college so the stage was nothing new to her, but for Ed the “adventure” forced him into new territory. In Enchanted Forest he had to learn dance steps for the first time. He said it was a great experience, but he probably won’t be dancing under the bright lights anytime soon.

But because he and Kristin are older and have retired they said they are lucky to have the opportunity to devote so much time with Paris.

Ed still remembers the first time he got to hold Paris when she was just 20 months old.

“We were just committed to being good parents,” he said.