'This is My First 4th of July as an American'

A surprise party with a bagpiper from his native Scotland awaited Joe Morledge at the Weston Family 4th of July Celebration at Weston Middle School Field Thursday. His wife, Jenine, wanted to celebrate his U.S. citizenship on Independence Day.

"This is my first 4th of July as an American," Morledge said. "This is cool."

Married for close to 13 years, the Weston couple has two children, Julia, 10, and Graeme, 7.

They met for the first time at a wedding in Queens, NY, in 1994, when their friends were marrying each other. Joe was a groomsman and Jenine was the maid of honor.

"We were dating other people at the time," Jenine said.

But they met again during a summer vacation with friends in the Outer Banks in N.C. when both were single.

"I lived in New York City and Joe was in Scotland at the time," Jenine recalled. "I invited him to visit New York City and stay in my studio apartment with me."

That visit sparked a transcontinental relationship, according to Jenine.

After a year, Joe, who is an attorney, sold his part of a law firm in Scotland so he could go to America to marry Jenine.

While living together in New York, Joe studied at Fordham before passing the New York bar exam.

They got married on Shelter Island, NY, in 2000, then had a more formal ceremony at St. Vincent Ferrer Church on East 66th Street in New York, with a reception at Studio 450, on Sept. 8, 2001 — three days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

"We woke up in Venice when it happened," Jenine recalled. "People were stuck there and could not go home."

When they had gotten married, Jenine said they had a good view of the Twin Towers.

Path to Citizenship

Joe and Jenine moved to Weston 11 years ago, when Jenine was pregnant with Julia.

"It took him a while to get his citizenship because he was lazy," Jenine said with a smile. "He didn't want to fill out all the forms. It was thick paperwork. We kept putting it off."

Jenine hired Gregor Macintyre, a Scottish bagpiper, who is pipe major with the Greenwich Pipe Band, for Thursday's party.

After Macintyre's performance, the deejay congratulated Joe on his citizenship to cheers from the crowd attending Weston's event.

"It's great," Jenine said. "We've been planning it for a few weeks and he didn't know. We surprised him."