Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/115080
nited, left Roomies reu edith and to right: Mer ndra and Fred Kark, Ke d Sara , an Eric DeGroat Havrilla. and John THE ROOMMATES KENDRA + ERIC + SARA + JOHN + MEREDITH + FRED Oh, there was a lot going on. Kendra had suggested that her girlfriends come to the wedding without dates. How three roomies married three roomies ��� and lived happily ever after The wedding was packed with Chippewas. Eric���s roommate, John Havrilla, was having a great time with Kendra���s roommate, Sara (Bidwell) Havrilla, ���93. And best man and roomie, Fred Kark, ���88, was getting cozy with Kendra���s roomie, Meredith (Wall) Kark, ���92. CMU roommates Eric, Fred and John were pals in Merrill Hall, then Herrig, then at the Theta Chi house. Kendra, Meredith and Sara were true-blue friends and roommates at the Tri Sigma house. When Kendra (Barany) DeGroat, ���91, and Eric DeGroat, ���90, met and fell in love, it set off a love chain reaction that still makes all six roomies shake their heads, two decades later. ���Three roommates married three roommates,��� John Havrilla, ���90, explains. ���Pretty crazy, huh?��� It all started in 1990, Kendra���s junior year, when she posted a flier about a spring break trip to Cancun she was selling for a travel company. Eric saw it. He and some friends met with Kendra to sign up. ���After they left, I told my mom, ���I just met the guy I���m going to marry,������ Kendra recalls. They got married in March 1993. By all accounts, it was a pretty fun wedding. ���When it���s your own wedding, you don���t know all the stuff that���s going on,��� Kendra says. 12 ���I had no idea Sara was Kendra���s roommate,��� says John, owner of Systematic EH&S, an environmental consulting business in South Lyon. ���We just started talking at the reception and danced. She had big beautiful blue eyes and a great smile. That got my attention.��� Meanwhile, Meredith had spied best man Fred up on the altar. ���I thought, ���That best man is really cute,������ she says. Later, they danced and talked at the reception. The rest is history ��� Fred and Meredith were married in 1994. John and Sara were married in 1995. The CMU-born romances have bonded the six friends, who all live within an hour or so from each other in southeast Michigan. Their kids are all friends, too. ���We don���t get together as often as we���d like, but even if we haven���t seen each other in three or six months, we pick up where we left off,��� says Sara. ���And if there���s a CMU thing, we���re all there. Every Homecoming, every big game. There���s a permanent bond with this group.��� ���We always joke, ���Thank God you guys got together,������ Meredith says of Kendra and Eric. ���It���s pretty incredible.��� ��� centralight spring ���13 A Central proposal Your stories of falling in love and popping the question at CMU ���In 1991, my roommate and I were strolling through Saxe after working out at the SAC, and in walked my future husband, who had Spanish class with my roommate. First kiss in 215 Beddow. Engaged in 109 Calkins. Married in 1995 and still going strong.��� ��� Heather Deighton, ���95 ���Got engaged in front of the seal after graduation in May of 1999.��� ��� Aaron Klein Haight, ���97 ���Met my hubby at a party at CMU in 2008. Got engaged in front of the seal on graduation day in 2010. Got married last summer!��� ��� Jessica Lynn Held, ���10 ���I met my wife, Jodi, at MAINstage 2003, our sophomore year, through a mutual friend. I ended up proposing to her at MAINstage on stage in front of everyone a few years later in 2005. We graduated May 2006 and married in 2008.��� ��� Jake VanWoerkom, ���06 ���I proposed to my girlfriend on the steps of Wightman Hall, where we met in HEC Food Management class. She said, ���yes,��� and we both still enjoy cooking.��� ��� Randy Heldt, ���86 ���