Hello there
Dave and Maya dated when both were students at Radnor High, but they lost touch after graduation. It would take nearly two decades and an oil spill to bring them together again.
Dave, now 44, is a social studies teacher at his alma mater. Maya, 43, is the Delaware Riverkeeper - in charge of the nonprofit Delaware Riverkeeper Network, which monitors and fights for the health of the Delaware River.
Just after Thanksgiving in 2004, the tanker Athos I spilled 265,000 gallons of oil into the Delaware. The resulting environmental mess compounded the sadness with which the usually upbeat Maya was already wrestling. It was her first holiday season without her mother, Marijke Wijsmuller, who had died that spring.
Maya was frequently quoted in the media in the days and weeks after the oil spill. Dave read the coverage, and thought his students would learn a lot if she came to their classroom. He contacted the Riverkeeper's office to invite Maya.
Environmental education is critically important, Maya said, but her office focuses on river advocacy and, when necessary, litigation. Still, this Mr. Wood taught at her old high school, and she and her daughter had recently moved back to Radnor.
She called him to set something up. "We had a lovely conversation. We talked about all kinds of things," she said. "Then afterward, I had this little tugging in my mind."
Maya sent an e-mail. "Are you the Dave Wood I knew in high school?" she asked. He said: "Well, if that's the only thing you remember from high school, you're in trouble!"
Their courtship got off to a clunky start. On the day of what was supposed to be their first quasi-date, Maya ran into a friend who also teaches at Radnor High and asked her about Dave Wood. The response: "He's great! I love him! And his wife and children are lovely, too."
Maya was supposed to join Dave at a bar, but "I thought he was some jerk married guy who was not being up-front with me. So I stayed home and baked things my mom used to bake. Dutch things."
But while it made no sense to her, Maya felt guilty about standing him up. On Christmas Day, she sent him an e-mail, apologizing for blowing him off, but letting him know she knew he was married.
He wrote back immediately that her information was out of date; he was in the process of getting a divorce. Dave went to Maya's home that evening. As they talked, Maya's daughter from her previous marriage, Anneke, then 8, threw down a picture she had drawn of a boy and a girl with a heart in the middle.
Dave left at 2 a.m., without even a kiss goodbye. The next day, Maya headed off for three weeks in India - where she was born - with her father and daughter. A phone message was waiting for her when she got home. Dave came over that night, and the two have been a couple ever since.
Since early 2006, they have lived together in Bryn Mawr, Radnor Township, with their children: Anneke, now 12; Dave's kids from his previous marriage, Jessica, 19; Scott, 17; Tommy, 14; and Steven, 12. Wim, the son they had together, joined them a few months later. He's now 21/2.
How does forever sound?
Maya grew up receiving poems along with her Christmas presents, and she continued the tradition by writing poems for Dave and the kids. On Christmas 2008, she was pleased to receive a poem from Dave. It reminisced about dating in high school, meeting again thanks to the oil spill, and their new life together as a family. The poem told Maya that someone in the room had a question for her, and she had to ask everyone if it was he or she.
"I thought it was some sort of game," Maya said. She got through three of the kids before Scott said, "I think Dad has a question for you."
He did. And she said yes.
It was so them
Dave and Maya were wed at Dave's family church, St. Luke's.
The day celebrated their love for each other, for the family they and their children have made, and for the Delaware River.
All six children walked down the aisle with orchids that they placed in a vase at the front of the church. Dave and Maya also put orchids in the vase, and near the end of the service, Dave tied the bouquet together to symbolize their coming together as a family.
The orchid was chosen because it was Marijke Wijsmuller's favorite flower.
The couple asked their 200 guests to make donations to the Riverkeeper Network instead of buying wedding presents. More than $5,500 was raised.
Maya said she and Dave considered the environment with every choice they made: The couple gave Pastor John Suloff a Bible with verses highlighted that encourage environmental awareness. To save fuel, the reception was held in the church community room - no further driving required. The coffee served was shade-grown to help protect the rain forest. The wine was locally made. The food - much of it prepared by friends - was vegetarian.
The invitations were bought from the Riverkeeper Network and left blank. Inside was a slip of paper with the date, time and location, and a request to reuse the card.
Awestruck
Maya really was looking forward to dancing with her new husband. "Those opportunities come so rarely at this point in life - you're not going to school dances anymore," she said. Dave suggested their first dance be to April Wine's "Just Between You and Me" - their song from Radnor High days. And they did dance to it at the scheduled time, but it was another dance that meant the most to them.
Their guests were just finishing dinner, and the bride and groom were visiting with them, when the DJ put on a slow song. "Dave took me out on the floor, and we started dancing."
Did the guests watch? Did anyone join them? Maya has no idea. "I just remember him looking in my eyes, and then we were kissing. It was really just a state of bliss."
Discretionary spending
A bargain: The blazer Dave wore - black with a thin light stripe of aqua - cost $1 at the Clothing Store thrift shop in Wayne.
The splurge: Maya chose a black silk dress from Brooks Brothers' women's department, which she paired with an aqua shawl purchased from India. The dress cost $398.
The getaway
Dave and Maya are saving up for a family trip to the Netherlands this summer.
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Behind the Scenes
Officiant
Pastor John Suloff, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Devon
Venue
St. Luke Lutheran Church, sanctuary and community room
Catering
Paula Coppola, owner of Bravo Pizza and Catering in Wayne, who made a donation to the Delaware Riverkeeper Network instead of charging the couple. All desserts and some other items were prepared by the bride, friends, and family of the couple.
Music
Jack Zerbe from the JCJ Band, Schuylkill County. All services donated to support the Delaware River.
Dress
Bride's dress bought off the rack at Brooks Brothers; groom's jacket bought at the Clothing Shop resale store in Wayne.
Invitations
Cards purchased from the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, with RSVPs done via e-mail to save paper and stamps.
Planning
Friends Christine Perrone, Faith Zerbe, and Judy Sherry{12403982932411}