Such wonderful news – John is engaged!

Aubrie is delightful. She’s brimming over with kindness, brains, and a sense of humor. Plus … she tells great stories.

“How was your day?” I asked her last Friday when we got together to celebrate Gary’s birthday and the engaged couple’s happy news. “Well, no one threw poop at me today, so it was a good day.”

Aubrie is an Occupational Therapist. She helps people, even those who don’t want to be helped.

Gary and I are delighted to welcome lovely Aubrie to our family. Just like John, she’s the middle child – only in her family, there are three sisters.

Aubrie, now that you’re engaged to John, here’s just the beginning of a long list of things we think you should know about him:

1. John once saved James from a bear attack

Even before James was born, John watched out for him. He insisted on going along with me to several of my pre-natal doctor visits. (And, as gross as this sounds, one time morning sickness struck while we were outside. There wasn’t time to dash to the house. John stayed quietly with me and rubbed my back gently as I upchucked in the woods.)

As James learned to walk, John stayed close, to be sure there were only soft landings.

They reminded me of Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh.

One afternoon, the two of them went for a walk in the woods together behind our home. Suddenly, the side door flew open and they hurried back inside. John was nearly out of breath, carrying his toddler brother.

“Mom! There’s a bear in the woods!” Once John heard a rustling in the trees, he didn’t waste any time checking to see if it was, indeed, a bear. He grabbed James and ran safely back home.

Another act of John-ness that comes to mind is when he was in marching band. One of the younger musicians was having a hard time fitting in during the early weeks and sometimes cried. John spent extra time with him, shielded him from teasing, and encouraged him to stick with it, which he did.

2. John plays well with others

Just like his brothers Tom and James, music has always been part of John’s life. From piano lessons to marching band, jazz band to garage bands, and in 2010, the ultimate summer job playing bass with the Beachcombers:

I believe John has serenaded you time and again, Aubrie – most specially on the night you got engaged! There’ll be much more to come, I have no doubt.

3. John’s mini-me … it’s like time travel

Aubrie, if you ever wonder what John was like as a lad, just look at (and listen to) Cameron.

Cameron loves you like crazy, Aubrie, which I’m pretty sure you already know. He is so lucky to have such a wonderful Bonus Mom on the way!

4. This isn’t exactly John’s first wedding

John was the ring-bearer at my brother Bill’s wedding to Barbara back in 1995. We traveled to Poughkeepsie, New York, for the big event. I caught this moment as my dad helped John get ready. We’d rented him a tiny tux and dress shoes.

This won’t be Aubrie’s first wedding, either. Last week she texted me this adorable picture:

As we waited for a table at the restaurant last Friday, John checked back with the hostess. He told us she said they had already called for us twice. We stared at one another in confusion, knowing we had waited close by and would have heard “Werne” when it was called.

Five minutes later, when they called “Warner!” over their system, we looked at each other started laughing: That’s us!

It seemed like the perfect time to ask Aubrie if she was planning to take the Werne name. She nodded with a smile. “Well, get used to Warner and Werner, then, because you’ll never hear Werne pronounced correctly. You’ll have a wonderful, happy marriage – but that last-name thing, it won’t get any better.”

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