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…………….On this day, February 3nd…..24 years ago…..Jac and I got married…….It all happened very spontaneously!….Our dear friends Andrea Pfister, and Jean Pierre Dupre were stopping over in NYC on their way to Las Vegas for an international shoe show. By then I had worked with both of them on the Anne Klein shoe collections for years…. Jac and I spent many wonderful times in their villa in Praiano, near Positano on the Amalfi coast, and we were all very close…….We were having dinner in NYC with “the boys”, and out of the blue Andrea said, “you should come to Las Vegas with up and get married. JP and I will stand up for you”. Jac and I looked at each other, and thought…YES….OKAY, why not!….We had planned on getting married, but our schedules were so hectic we never made a final plan. We always discussed where and how and who and how big or small, and who we should invite to our wedding…….This was the perfect answer….we would basically elope…..so off we went…the four Musketeers…….We all stayed at the Bellagio Hotel with the dancing water fountains out front. It was my first time in Vegas, but Jac had been there with her mom, and a few other times to do fashion shows. She and her mom saw Elvis in one of his later shows….We went to the front desk and asked the concierge how to go about getting married in Vegas. He told us what to do…..After looking at different venues we decided on “The Little White Chapel” It was famous, and many many celebrates over the years got married there…..some of them two or three times! Their pictures covered the wall…..They offered a package….music [a boom box playing here comes the bride]…..a video of the happy event, a bouquet of flowers for Jac, and a Little White Chapel limo…..We decided on  the music, the video and the limo. Jac didn’t want the flowers…..Then we had to get the license. It’s quick to get in Vegas, no red tape! We went down town to the old city hall Marriage Bureau, and there was a room where you got your license….The whole process was sort of like an assembly line!…..It was actually comical!!….Jac had suggested we get married by an Elvis impersonator, but I said no! If I were saying my vows to an Elvis I would never believe it was legal…..Reverend Stone married us, and he was wonderful…..Getting the license was so quick I asked the girl behind the desk, after filling out a post card sized form with pencils, if that was it? No questions?? She looked at us quizzically, and said in a thick southern accent…..”are ya’ll first cousins?” She said it so seriously that Jac and I burst out into laughter……..Jac made one request….a black limo…..she didn’t want us to be a spectacle at the front door of the Bellagio….Two days later was our wedding day….an easy date to remember…2, 3, 00…. Jac wore a white Anne Klein jacket and top over black pants, and I wore a black suit….At the appointed time we met Andy and JP in the lobby. Chinese New Year was about to happen so the place was decorated to the hilt and the lobby was hopping……We all went to the front door , and awaited our limo…..Andrea noticed Jac didn’t have flowers….so he went into the flower bed at the hotel and picked a small bunch of red flowers…..”something borrowed?”…….Then this very looooong WHITE limo pulls up with the “Little White Chapel” emblazoned on its’ side. I noticed the windows had a special treatment that looked like raindrops so no one could see in….Jac said, “a white limo!  I wanted a black one!!”….I answered “Hon, in Vegas they only use black limos for funerals….be happy it wasn’t PINK!”….So off we went…..The whole ceremony was much more solemn than I had expected, which made it all so real. I could hear Jean Pierre sobbing in the background. Jac and I really had to hold it together, and not laugh. JP was so sweet, and I caught Andrea wiping away tears too……Afterward we went to the “Needle” with the revolving restaurant overlooking the city. It’s a real touristy place, but it was fun……..So now, after all of the years Jac and I knew each other, first as friends, and now deeply in love….we were finally married, as the crowd at the front door applauded us!!…….We spent our Honeymoon in Vegas. We saw lots of shows, and took side trips to the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and the Monument Valley all in a small four seater plane. Jac was terrified so I held her hand during the entire trip…..It was a short trip in Vegas, but we planned to go to Anguilla for a longer Honeymoon…..These were the best memories! Jac and I watched the video when we got home, and then put it away. I haven’t watched it since. I really have to FIND IT!…..We then let our families know that we got married! and organized a dinner….They were all surprised we had eloped…but they were very happy……….That February day was the beginning of the rest of our happy lives together..,,,,