March 2010

Little did she know…

Back in middle school, Suzann Speck believed she would be forever unnoticed and nameless to her crush, upperclassman athlete Eric Anthony.

How could she have known that more than two decades later, the two would be married on a beach in Mexico?

Although both Suzann and Eric were involved in school sports, they never interacted in person, as she was a few years behind him in school. Watching him on the football field was enough for Suzann to develop a crush on Eric, but she was positive he didn’t even know she existed.

As Eric graduated and pursued a career as locomotive engineer for Norfolk Southern, Suzann continued on in high school before heading to college and eventually working as a production secretary for her father at Speck Plastics. Both appeared to be proceeding down separate paths.

However, their paths only needed to cross once more before they fully merged. In 2003, Suzann’s friend Misty threw a surprise party for her husband—who is also Eric’s cousin—and both Suzann and Eric were invited to the gathering. When Suzann’s date for the evening couldn’t make it, she went to the party alone. Looking back, it was a fortunate turn of events; Suzann and Eric wound up talking until 2 a.m., catching up on each other’s lives and discovering common interests.

“Actually, they had to kick us out of the bar,” Suzann says. “We’ve been together ever since.”

To explore their new-found connection, the two dived into a week’s worth of long telephone conversations. Although he claims no planning was involved in their first date, Eric invited Suzann over to his house for a Friday night dinner. The menu that evening, salmon and steamed vegetables, showed his concerted effort to accommodate Suzann’s new diet. She also met Eric’s two sons, Evan (14) and Tanner (12), with whom she hit it off immediately and became quick “pals.” The four soon discovered a shared passion for all things sports. Eric even told Suzann that he knew she was the girl for him because she knew Desmond Howard, now a football analyst for ESPN, played for the University of Michigan. Suzann still plays football in the street and video games with the boys, who affectionately call her “Speck” and treat her like one of the “kids.”

After dating for about five years, the couple began talking in earnest about getting married. For her birthday in November 2008, they went ring shopping. They found the perfect one but were told the fitting would take a few weeks, and the ring would not be ready until New Year’s Eve.

On December 29, an afternoon of lounging on the sofa turned into one of the most memorable days for Suzann. After making a trip to the mall, Eric walked in with their cat Larry—whom the two adopted together—and a special surprise.

Suzann recalls the moment. “He came in, and after I jokingly told him he was late, he immediately got down on one knee and proposed right there. I was totally surprised.”

Since the beginning of the engagement, the couple saw a beach wedding on the horizon. After a visit in March 2009, they decided Tulum, Mexico, was the ideal spot to exchange their vows on November 16.

“We had visited Mexico a number of times prior to our plans to wed,” Suzann says. “We knew the beach, barefoot, sunny and hot was the place for us.”

Tulum, home to a number of historical Mayan sites, is located on the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula on the Caribbean Sea.

Although many friends and family could not make the trip, Suzann and Eric fully recognized from the beginning the trade-offs that come with a destination wedding.

“The best part of having it away from home was we thought the people who really wanted to be there were there,” says Suzann. “We said early on that if the only two people there were us, that’s all that was important.”

Eleven months after Eric’s proposal, the couple began their “four-day, non-stop party” with their close group of friends and family, bonding over delicious meals, beach time, and games of volleyball and ping-pong.

After the bridal party and guests left, one of Suzann’s bridesmaids and her husband stayed to bask in the Mexican sun with the newlyweds for a few more days before the couple settled into some time alone. Highlights of the honeymoon included couples’ massages, visiting Playa Del Carmen (a nearby resort) for shopping and people watching, and a romantic—although slightly windy—dinner on the beach.

Congratulations Suzann and Eric, and best wishes from all of us at Speck Plastics!

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