Along the Way: Joyful son’s wedding nearly perfect for Janet and me
Timothy Allen Dix and Chelsea Nicole Murphy were married on the beautiful grounds of The French House on the outskirts of Cincinnati, 5:30 Saturday evening, May 28, 2022.
The wedding and the joyful, sit-down dinner and tent reception that followed seemed nearly perfect, but I am a biased. Tim is our son and years ago, Janet and I concluded Chelsea would be a wonderful wife and partner for him. Having gotten to know Chelsea’s family a little better over the weekend, we are even more convinced of that.
A TV producer in Los Angeles, Tim met Chelsea when they were undergraduates at Ohio University in Athens. After graduation, he headed for Los Angeles when a relative in the TV business hired Tim as a beginner, which at times meant slogging heavy equipment around wherever his show at that time, ESPN Sport Science, was being taped.
Chelsea followed Tim to LA. An Ohio University marketing major, well organized, and striking in appearance, she soon landed a job in pharmaceutical sales and now runs a district of pharmaceutical sales personnel. Tim has advanced and appears in the credits for shows like Discovery’s BattleBots and NBC’s American Ninja Warrior, where he oversees whole episodes from pre- to post-production.
Both professions require them to travel, but, somehow, they maintain a nice home in Studio City in Los Angeles County with Olaf, their rescue dog, a happy-go-luck Bichon Frise. Tim and Chelsea enjoy a wide circle of friends. In Tim’s case, many are pals from his years at Roosevelt High School.
He had nine groomsmen plus his older brother, Chris, who served as best man. Tim would have had a dozen more groomsmen and dozens more guests if the parameters of the wedding could have accommodated them. A sign of our mobile times: 21 states plus the District of Columbia were represented in the gathering.
Friday evening after rehearsal dinner, we watched the groomsmen and guests in the fabulous Art Deco bar of the historic Hilton Netherlands in downtown Cincinnati. It felt like a Roosevelt High School reunion. What fun it was watching the guys, several with their wives, laughing and having a good time!
Chelsea, whose sister, Meghan Kurtz, served as matron of honor, had seven bridesmaids and added her little niece, Millie Kurtz, as flower girl, and twin brother Maxwell Kurtz, as ring bearer. The official program honored in gratitude, Gretchen Zinser Murphy and her late husband, Terrence (Tip) Murphy as well as Janet and me. Honorably mentioned were the grandparents Paul and Harolyn Zinser and Donald and Katherine Murphy plus Griff and Helen Allen and Bob and Helen Westcott Dix, all no longer living.
The Murphys are from Louisiana and years ago came to Cincinnati because of Mr. Murphy’s job. They have southern charm and warmth. Chelsea’s sweet mother, Gretchen, is a person one cannot help but hug after time spent together. Chelsea’s sister, Meghan, and brother-in-law, Matt Kurtz, are just as welcoming. Matt, proud of his twin children in the wedding, had tears in his eyes as the evening progressed. Matt’s brother, Steven, officiated.
They are a demonstrative family and embrace one another with love and affection. Janet’s family is like that. Janet and her four sisters attended a wedding shower a few months ago at the Murphy’s in Loveland, a Cincinnati suburb. The wedding was “old home week” for the sisters whose husbands quickly picked up on the warmth. My Dix siblings and I were raised a little more reserved. Nevertheless, the affection felt welcoming.
Dancing and schmoozing under the tent took up the rest of the evening. The party resumed Sunday afternoon in Over-The-Rhine, the former working-class neighborhood of 19th century brick buildings that is being transformed into a district of trendy gastropubs, craft breweries, and specialty shops.
Ohio has terrific towns with Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati, the most populous and noteworthy. I love Cleveland and Lake Erie and Columbus with its Ohio State football and Statehouse on Capitol Square. Cincinnati may be the best of the three. The easily accessed Reds and Bengals stadiums bookend a beautiful riverfront garden whose centerpiece is the 1865 John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge spanning the Ohio River.
The city hosts headquarters for Proctor & Gamble, Kroger, and Macy’s, a great symphony orchestra, beautiful art museums, colleges, universities, The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and the mammoth Cincinnati Union Terminal, a railway station that also houses the Cincinnati History Museum.
Cincinnati is a destination city. I hope Janet and I can return and see more of it.
David E. Dix is a former publisher of the Record-Courier.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Along the Way: Joyful son’s wedding nearly perfect for Janet and me
