Mary Louise ANDREW ^{1 2}

   General Notes:

First of 18 cousins to marry.

SOURCE
Email Genealogy Questionnaire Dec 2001 MLA.

BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
Mary Louise ANDREW, Born 16 Oct 1970, Weight 8 lb 6 oz, Houston Texas.

GRANDPARENTS
Pop (Eugene Ashton Andrew Jr.) and Nana (Anna Louise Hanish). Fondest Pop memories: The Trip we took to Oshkosh, WI in 1988. I was impressed with how cool/calm he was at landing the plane and his landing was like landing in butter. VERY smooth. I had a blast there with Pop and it was flattering watching him 'talk me up' to his friends and other pilots. Another fond memory I have is of his workshop. I loved it when he would let me help out. All the tools, wood, metal and organization! He also had a drawer with "Mary Monkey" written on it (nick name) he would leave me quarters, dimes, scrap metal and notes. His workshop still inspires me today (You should see my art studio!)

Nana memories: Some of my fondest childhood memories are of Nana reading to me. I loved when she would take me to book fairs and the library. She would let me pick out anything I wanted. On occasion, when I was 12 and 13 years old she and Pop would invite me to stay over on Friday nights. The three of us would have a nice dinner, watch a PBS movie and Nana made a point of telling me to stay up as late as I wanted and help myself to anything in the kitchen. This was a luxury I did not have at home!

PARENTS
Adair Eugene Andrew and Martha Jane Andrew (Marti Williams). AKA: Dad and Mom

Dad to me, through the years: baseball coach, math tutor, parade leader, guitar player, comedian, intellectual, art inspiring, literary lover, motorcycle man, nature lover, runner, Mom's best friend, ERA supporter (not baseball!), ERA supporter (well, ok, baseball too), 'Dead Head', race walker, inspirational, bicyclist, role model, viola playing, classical musician, Beatles fan, George Harrison fan, college financial supporter, confidant, Best Friend.

Mom to me, through the years: Most of my Mom childhood memories were right around the time I was 7 years old. I was coloring at the kitchen table in Houston and asked Mom "What if this is just a dream, what if life isn't real" her reply to me was "No Mary, what if this is all someone else's dream". CRACK, blammmmo went my brain. I've never thought about things the same again. Another time when I was 7 years old Mom and Dad's friend Keith was getting married at the Rothko Chapel in Houston. Before the wedding Mom took me around and asked me what I thought of all of Mark Rothko's paintings. I liked them although they made me feel sad. She explained that he was a (self) tormented artist and soon after the painting were completed he committed suicide. I added a new word to my vocabulary that day, decided that suicide sounded pretty stupid to me but fell in love with Rothko's work. I have been a fan of his work every since. I'm also impressed with a woman like Mom who took the time to ask me what I thought. Other moms would have said shut up and sit down to a child at a wedding. I have always appreciated the way Mom talked to us when we were kids. Like we were interesting little people and that our thoughts and feelings mattered. She still treats us with the same respect today.

SIBLINGS
Younger sister: Sarah Frances Andrew Wilson. AKA: Frankie, Stupid and Sarah-DooDah

Older Brother: Christopher George Andrew, AKA: Chris, George, Johnny, Hey You!

Too many childhood memories with Chris and Sarah. I'm grateful that Sarah was the Maid of Honor, Best Man, Photographer, Reception planner, Witness and ring bearer for Al and my wedding in Phoenix. I'm grateful that she had me be her Best Woman at her wedding. (and agreed with my title change. Who likes Matron of Honor anyway?!) I'm proud of Sarah for the young woman she has turned into. She is bright, intellectual, brilliant, funny, beautiful, crazy and one of my closest friends. If you tell her I said all of that, I'll deny it!

I'm grateful Chris hasn't asked me to bail him out of jail lately. Just joking!! Gheesh Mom don't cry! Seriously, I'm very proud of my brother who is making a life for himself out in California. In a country that is so intent on money making, greed and keeping up with the Jones, Chris is my Bohemian Idol. Rock On Johnny Satan Seed!

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Forster Elementary School, Houston, TX (K-3). Jamestown Elementary, Blackjack, MO (4th and 5th). Walker Elementary, Florissant, MO (6th).

HIGH SCHOOL
Hazelwood Central High school. 1989. Memories: YECK, who wants to remember high school?!? (unless you went to Greenhills)

COLLEGE
Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State) and London University - Imperial College (Fall semester 1990). I was a English Elizabethan History major and switched to Art History my Senior year. Worse mistake of my academic career was switching to Art History. Try talking to an Egyptologist about Mark Rothko and the Abstract Expressionists when they don't think anything after 1900 should be studied in academia! Best memory of college was the semester I studied in England. Take a Shakespeare class, go to Stratford and see a Shakespeare play. Take a British Poetry class, sit in Hyde park and read Keats. Take a British Politics class, go to Parliament and watch Margaret Thatcher resign! Take a British Culture class, go to the pub and drink a pint!!!

MILITARY SERVICE
None, unless you count Girl Scouts

SPOUSE
Alexander Howard Andrew Swacker. AKA: Al

ENGAGEMENT
4 Jul 1999 St Louis Missouri.

MARRIAGE
19 October 2000 Phoenix Arizona.

How you met...Memories: Al says he knew who I was for quite some time before we actually met. I didn't notice him until one night out side of the Way Out Club. Mutual friends of ours, Bob and Sherri, owned and ran the Way Out for almost five years without Al and I ever meeting. One night Al, his friend Ray and I got locked out of the Club and were stranded waiting for Bob and Sherri. Al's very inebriated friend Ray kept asking me my name and blurting out "You'd never go out with a guy like me" (he was right). Al, Ray, my brother Chris and I joined a small group of friends over at Bob and Sherri's house. We sat under the stars in the backyard and discussed various topics. Life, music, love, politics, film, philosophy. Chris wandered off to review B and S's music collection, B and S went to sleep, Ray insulted everything I had to say following with "You'd never go out with a guy like me" (he was STILL right). Al on the other hand listened to every word I said as if it was the most brilliant thing he had ever heard (and still does)! We made plans to go on our first date at Bob's 55th birthday party two days later on the 4th of July. We have seen each other every single day since that first date!

In April of 2000 we bought a house together in Overland. In July of 2000 he asked me to marry him (out of the clear blue, I might add). I had been planning for years to go on a long road trip across country for my 30th birthday. When Al and I started seeing each other we decided to go on the trip together. So after he proposed we decided to go on a Rock-n-Roll/Mary turns 30/Let's get married road trip to Phoenix. We kept our engagement a secret from all with the exception of my sister Sarah (Aunt Kathy found out a day before our trip and promised she wouldn't tell. It's another long story I'll spare the reader).

We traveled to Memphis first. Graceland and Sun Studios, what a great way to start off the trip! Houston, TX was next. My home town, the Rothko Chapel, Galveston Beach and to a jeweler where we bought our wedding rings. October 15th and 16th (my anticipated 30th birthday) we were in Lubbock, TX. Lubbock is the birthplace and former home of the late great Buddy Holly. On through New Mexico and Winslow, AZ (...standin' on the corner of Winslow Arizona, its such a fine sight to see, it's a girl my Lord in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me....). From Winslow, through Flagstaff, we took a scenic, off the interstate, route to Phoenix. Sarah played a gracious hostess for a couple of days. Al and I planned to get married on the 18th but the county was not performing ceremonies on the same day as issuing the license. On October 19th at about 5:30 pm Al and I exchanged vows. Sarah was witness, photographer, and Best Man/Woman. We all went out to dinner that night at a nice Italian Bistro in Tempe. After dinner Al and I called our parents to share the news. Dad didn't believe me and Mom was shocked that I took Al's last name (or rather added it to Mary Louise Andrew). I think it took Sarah getting on the phone to make them believe.

Al and I 'honeymooned' at the Grand Canyon and road tripped back home to St. Louis. It has been my most favorite memory and vacation to date!

CHILDREN
None. Al has two daughters: Micha LeNeave and Emma Jane Swacker. So then I suppose I have two stepdaughters. Great girls, but if they ever so much as whisper "Stepmother" I'm gonna let them have it! Just joking! They call me Mary, or Dad's Wife, or Hey you (who knows what they call me behind my back!). "Mary" is just fine for all.

PROFESSSION AND CAREER
Artist, Dreamer and Office Efficiency Consultant.

HOBBIES AND AVOCATIONS
Watching films with Al, Crazy Beats shows (Al's band), Stargazing, Painting, woodworking, reading...

ORGANIZATIONS
"I don't care to belong to any club that will have me as a member" (quoted from Woody Allen or Groucho Marx depending on your favorite genre)

   Events:

1. High School Graduation; 1989, St Louis County, Missouri, USA. ³ Hazelwood Central High School

   Marriage Information:

Mary married Alexander SWACKER on 19 Oct 2000 in Phoenix, , Arizona, USA. (Alexander SWACKER was born on 8 Sep 1968 in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA.)