[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 114 (Thursday, August 5, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SUE AND ED SMITH

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 5, 1999

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Mr. Speaker, in 1972 Sue Weinreb and her three children 
Kara, Dana and David, and Edmund Smith and his three children, Corrie, 
Peter and Eddie moved to thirteen acres in Sonoma County, California to 
begin a life together. She was 29, he was 37. Together they had little 
money, no electricity, no running water, no house, and six kids between 
the ages of three and nine. Three boys and three girls. The original 
Brady Bunch. That summer they began the first of many do-it-yourself 
projects--building a home which would eventually take eight years to 
complete. Meanwhile, during that first year together, the 8 of them 
lived in a 24' trailer, a tent, and a Datsun, and took baths once a 
week at the neighbor's house down the road. Two years later, on June 
29, 1974, they left the kids with a babysitter and snuck off to a rare 
weekend alone to get married. They planted eight redwood seedlings in 
the yard, to honor the new family.
  In 1976 Sue and Ed started an environmental consulting business which 
they ran out of the barn. Over the next 12 years they grew the business 
into a full service analytical testing laboratory which employed 50 
people in an 11,000 sq. ft. building in Santa Rosa. Other ventures 
followed. Meanwhile, they somehow managed to attend every one of their 
children's swimming meets, awards ceremonies, dance concerts, football 
games, and school plays. They made Halloween costumes and birthday 
crowns, helped with science fair projects, and joined in the wooden 
spoon duels in the kitchen. They volunteered when the community, built 
a playground, and they were involved in local politics. Because of 
their busy schedules, they made sure the family ate dinner together 
every night. And, they made sure to pass on their special interests to 
their children: sewing, woodworking, fishing, photography, science, art 
and travel.
  Later, after the youngest had left home and they'd sold their 
business, they traveled to Africa, Australia, and Europe. No lazing 
around fancy hotels for them. Pictures show them kayaking with orca 
whales, riding donkeys, carving wooden masks, scuba diving, feeding 
giraffes and monkeys, and rock climbing.
  This summer, Sue and Ed Smith will celebrate their 25th wedding 
anniversary with friends and family under those same eight redwood 
trees, which now tower over the house they built. Those 25 years 
haven't always been easy. There were especially terrible times--a 
separation, the death of Peter at age 28. But, there were especially 
joyous times--the births of their grandchildren Nick Smith Shafer and 
Scott Anderson Shafer (with their oldest son recently announcing that a 
third is on the way).
  Sue and Ed's marriage is a testament to what can be created when a 
couple has a shared vision and a commitment to do whatever needs to be 
done to do the job right. They have always provided support for each 
other, their community, and their kids, to help, to listen, and to do.
  Their greatest accomplishments thus far? The creation of a family, 
not without its strains and difficulties like all families, but a 
family where the grown children--now a teacher, a legislative assistant 
for a member of Congress, a stay-at-home mom/sex educator, an 
accountant with a fledgling business, and a lighting director/
screenwriter--genuinely enjoy and care for each other and their 
parents. And, after 25 years of marriage, Sue and Ed Smith are truly 
best friends who treasure each other's company. They are a wonderful 
example of family values and an inspiration to all of us.

                          ____________________