Ben Russell

Ben Russell
Sex	M
Spouse	Joy Russell

Ben Russell and his newlywed bride Joy take a raft trip in Canyon Fires.

Ben grew up outside Cleveland. He has a severe ragweed allergy that put him in the hospital more than once and restricted his enjoyment outside. He turned to playing online games, especially Dragonslayer, where his gaming handle is Ragweed.

Ben's search for escape from ragweed led him to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and a career in Phoenix. He works for Valley Engineering, a civil engineering firm. He does computer imagining and GIS applications with a lot of time on AutoCAD.

Ben lives in Tempe and met Joy through Dragonslayer. They were slow to reveal their real lives to each other and were surprised to discover they live in the same apartment complex. They subsequently discovered the complex is just across the street from Jon and Tanisha Chladek whom they met on the raft trip.

One of Ben and Joy's first dates together was to a Dayna Berkshire and Sandy Beach concert. He won a Canyon Tours trip through a raffle, which with a trip to Las Vegas prompted their wedding.

In 2002, the Russells contemplate having kids "in a year or two"; with the prerequisite of moving into a house.^GT13 On May 25, 2002, Joy and Ben move into their own house.^GT21