1937: Louis Virgil Martel, 3rd of 8 children, is born in Los Angeles, CA. 1943: Erma Lorraine Gardner is born to a family with two big brothers in Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. 1969: Lori is doing laundry when some guy comes in asking when she’ll be done. The lumberjack beard must not have impressed her, so she blows him off. But the very next day, he becomes the local handyman and is charged with changing the locks on the apartment tenants’ doors. Luigi to the rescue! 1971: Through doubles tennis matches and Dodger games, the friendship between Lou and Lori turned to romance. And not much later, on Dad’s own Valentine’s Day, February 15th, he proposed to Lori on the 101 freeway in his 1969 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. Lori managed to resist the charm and thoughtfulness and told him, “I’ll think about it.” She must have said yes, because they got married May 1st, 1971. 1971: The big day came, and they wed the evening of May 1st at Wee Kirk of the Heather Chapel in Forest Lawn in Glendale. The reception was at the Tuesday Afternoon Club (also the name of the Ross discount for seniors on Tuesdays – 10% off!). They honeymooned in Lake Tahoe and Napa. 1973: Lou and Lori moved to a house on Susana Street in Torrance and Lori gave birth to Nicole Lorraine Martel. 1975: Mark Louis Martel was born, and not long after, the growing family moved to a bigger house on 236th Place. 1977: Mom and Dad ran out of first names to bestow upon their kids, so they started coming up with original middle names when Bradley Adam Martel was born. 1982: The sky opened, angels sang, and Lou and Lori gave birth to one last diaper-filler: Kristi Allison Martel. 2003: Lori and Lou bought the Warmside house, just one block from where they started off on Susana in Torrance. 2006: Dad’s retired. Mom’s retired. It’s party time.