Children + Families Week: The Bessler-Rutledge & Lufkin families

The Lufkin & Bessler-Rutledge Families

Erin Hawkinson and Heidi Rutledge met in grad school in 1996. They got their first teaching jobs at the same high school, became roommates, and carpooled to and from work together.

Not long after embarking on their careers, Heidi met a lovely woman named Jen and fell madly in love with her. Erin met and fell in love with a fellow named Mike later that same year. Heidi and Jen attended Erin and Mike’s wedding two years later.

The two couples have stayed close over the years. Heidi’s partner Jen plays in the same soccer league as Erin, while their kids play against each other in the YMCA soccer league. All the kids (and sometimes parents, too…) enjoy a similar rivalry in their Nerf battles when they get together. The families vacation together, teaching each other’s kids to downhill ski and waging epic snowball fights.

As teachers, Erin and Heidi both have summers off. They spend lots of time together meeting up at parks so the kids can bike, swim & play. The two families also love to hike and explore mountain trails together. Heidi and Jen share the same hopes for their kids as Erin and Mike. They share the same challenges as busy parents, and the same joys in the day to day successes of their children.

Erin & Mike hope that Washington State voters Approve Referendum 74 so they can finally watch their good friends Jen and Heidi get married, and so the two families can both enjoy the recognition and security that comes with marriage.