The Story of WE!

For those of you who know both of us, you are a special group and you know it.  For the rest of you, we will provide a bit of history of each other and WE! 

I have known Lauri's family for some time, my brother, Patrick Erickson, was good friends with Jodi, Lauri's younger sister.  I am super tight with my brother so we were always hanging out together and we share a huge friend group, so I got to know Jodi quite well over the years.  During the summer, Thanksgiving and Christmas, the friends would usually visit Jodi and her family and that's how I met Lauri.  Years went by like this, she would yell downstairs about midnight and tell all of us to be quiet, the kids were trying to sleep.  Usually that was directed entirely at Todd, but I am sure I contributed!  She would spend some time with us on occasion to share a beverage with Jodi and her friends or hang out during the beach parties.  

Meanwhile, to let those of you who do not know me get some insight on myself, I was happily married all this time to my late wife Jennifer.  We raised two children: Kollen, now 24, & Kaitlen, now 18.  I have lived in Grand Haven most of my life, graduated high school here in '92.  I went to Michigan Technological University in Houghton, this was where my son was born, he is a Yooper!  I worked in Holland for 10 years with Johnson Controls and took a job with DTE Energy where I have worked for the last 17 years.  I spent 8 years in Detroit and came back to the West side when my wife fell ill so we could be close to our parents.  Now, if you haven't figured it out yet, I like to backpack, ski and sail.  I am an Eagle Scout, as is my son, and that got me hooked on backpacking.  I am a Ski Patroller at Crystal Mountain and have done that for almost 30 years.  Both my children are avid skiers, and Kaitlen prefers snowboarding.  Kollen is an electrician and lives in Grand Rapids with his girlfriend Kate.  Kaitlen is graduating this year and will attend GVSU and has been accepted to Michigan Tech as well!  Kaitlen spent 10 months in Germany as an exchange student and is fluent in German.

Lauri is also a GHHS graduate ('88). After two years at Western in Kalamazoo, she migrated to the mountains of Colorado, meeting up with many of the high school gang and finding a love for hiking and  camping. Younger siblings Jodi and Matt moved West and join Lauri  in Fort Collins, where they had many adventures. Post-graduation from Colorado State with a degree in Spanish, Lauri spent a year in southern Spain before heading home to Grand Haven. Lauri and her big sister Jen found some fun, and Jen found her husband, through weekly sailboat racing before heading to law school in Boston. Settling in Chicago after earning her law degree allowed her and the kids a proximity to enjoy Grand Haven with family and friends. 

Getting back to WE, Lauri was now spending more time in Michigan and more time with Jodi, hanging out on the "kids" side of the house.  Naturally, she and I started talking more, as we were the older two of the friends group and became fast friends.  With a little help from Jodi vouching for my character.... we have been together ever since.   As we got to know each other, it was clear we had similar backgrounds, enjoyed the same things and had the same outlook on life and soon began to appreciate the opportunity at a 2nd chance at happiness.  We love to ski together with our kids, travel to visit our siblings in Seattle and New Orleans, compete against each other in sailboat racing on Wednesday nights, and bareboat charter with our friends in the islands.  We currently remain "Bi-coastal", spending time both in GH in the summer and part-time in Northbrook, IL  during the school year. After 4 years together, it was clear we wanted to be married. Little did we know COVID-19 would disrupt all our plans.  We are here now and look forward to spending time with all of you!