Last Monday night, Castleton students were treated to one of the most entertaining, funny and informative events of the year as six couples from the Castleton community told stories about how they met and how they’ve stayed together for so long.

‘Every Couple has a Story’ brought out the very best in an array of couples including Monica and Harry McEnerny, Meredith and Diana Fletcher, Colleen and Mark Klatt, Janet and Officer Floyd Morey, Emily Whitehead and Ethan Curtis and Yasmine Ziesler and David Englander.

The couples were asked a series of questions that they were given ahead of time. Unsurprisingly, the most intriguing details came from the unplanned and unexpected commentary.

“Sometimes he brings me Jalapeño Poppers when I really want them and it really turns me on,” said education professor Monica McEnerny while discussing her husband, theater professor Harry McEnerny — whose face turned a lovely shade of red.

Public Safety Officer Floyd Morey discussed his relationship with his wife as “not always perfect,” to which she replied “we get through the harder times with laughter.” Officer Morey, who is Irish, also mentioned that “my wife’s family is very Italian, so it’s like dealing with the Mafia sometimes.”

Academic Dean Yasmine Ziesler brought up the challenge of telling her parents years ago that this new guy she was dating, David Englander, was Jewish. Ziesler’s father grew up surrounded by anti-Semitism in anti-Semitic times. “My father was very anti-Semitic,” said Ziesler.

“We avoided the issue,” said Englander “until one day I just decided to call him a Nazi. It didn’t work.”

The Fletchers have experienced a very different kind of hurdle. It probably isn’t exactly what you’d expect.

“I wasn’t going to say this, but the biggest hurdle is when we’re PMSing at the same time,” said Meredith Fletcher. The comment earned her a round of applause from the audience and a slight roll of the eyes from her wife.

The Klatts discussed their focus on career and the mutual decision to not have children.

“We just really enjoy spending all of our time together,” said head football coach Mark Klatt. “Our careers came first.”

“We’re so busy. We’d probably forget to feed them,” said Colleen Klatt.

“They made the conscious decision to not have kids, while we made the unconscious decision to have them,” said McEnerny referencing an earlier discussion on how he and his wife became pregnant in college and they found out while they were on different continents.

The audience remained active throughout the event and seemed to take away genuine lessons.

“I learned that as long as the person you’re with is a decent person, you have a lot in common with them, and you’re willing to work on things you’ll end up happy,” said Castleton senior Grace Herzog who was in attendance. “I would definitely go to another one.”