The story (from Jonah’s perspective, co-written by Sarah): [Sorry, I write for a living so this may be long-winded] Sarah and I first met our sophomore year of college at Truman State University. My major (Communication) was also her minor (she majored in Visual Communication), so we had several classes in common- in one of them we even did a group project together- and were even aides for the same professor at one point. Despite this, for some reason we never really clicked - we were friendly with each other, in a collegial manner, but honestly we weren’t even friends. We didn’t know each other yet. That changed during Fall 2015, when our heavily overlapping mutual friend groups inevitably meant that one evening we spied each other across a crowded room, struck up a conversation, and realized in that moment what we’d been missing out on this whole time. I had just gotten back from a semester studying abroad in Finland, and Sarah had just studied abroad during the summer in Italy and several other European countries. We instantly bonded over our love for travel, and found that we had a lot else in common besides - including our senses of humor! When Sarah finally asked me on a date a few days later (yup, she made the first move), our first date lasted 5 hours: coffee on the Kirksville town square; then we participated in a Guinness World Record attempt for the World’s Largest Pie Fight (sadly we didn’t break the record); then I had a chicken sandwich and Sarah had some kind of nondescript wrap as we dined together in the Student Union Building. (My treat. I had extra meal swipes that week.)
As I mentioned, we both found (and still find) each other’s sense of humor attractive, and not a day goes by without one of us making the other one laugh, more often than not by cracking a pun. We both come from big, sporty, brainy families with loving parents and the best 10 (total) siblings in the world. We both love the outdoors, trying new things and meeting new people. Our personalities and our skills complement each other nicely (i.e. Sarah is the illustrator, I’m the wordsmith). In short, our relationship was bound to work out pretty well. We dated for the rest of that year, our senior year at Truman State University, and after graduation continued dating long-distance for a long (but totally worth it) almost three years. Sarah hit the big time and landed a job as a graphic designer in Kansas City, while I worked for two years toward a Master’s degree in Journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia. Being two hours drive apart was a doable distance, but we are both very happy that we never have to be long-distance again! Last fall, I was privileged to get the opportunity to move to Denver to work for Catholic News Agency. On a visit to Estes Park together a few months after I moved out to Colorado (and just two days after I got back from World Youth Day in Panama), I took Sarah up to the Chapel on the Rock at St. Malo, where St. John Paul II visited and hiked during World Youth Day 1993. It was there that I asked Sarah to marry me, and after she stopped crying, she said yes!
Denver is thankfully a place Sarah and I couldn’t be more happy to relocate to. In a wonderful turn of events, Sarah has been able to keep her Kansas City graphic design job and work remotely for Unbound, a nonprofit child sponsorship agency, after relocating to Denver in June. Now that we’re finally living in the same city, we can finally start on the children’s book we want to publish together! We couldn’t be more excited to put down our roots in colorful Colorado, and while it’s wonderful to be out here our hearts will always be Missouri-made. Throughout nearly four years of dating, during some of the most important transition periods of our young lives- graduating from college, getting our first real jobs, moving several times- our love has only been strengthened by all the new and awesome experiences we’ve had together. They range from the little things: making buffalo chicken dip on a chilly night, watching endless hours of Jeopardy, playing with Sarah’s cat Patty and me trying not to sneeze as a result. Or the bigger adventures: like taking a trip to England, touring Washington D.C. and the great Smoky Mountains, or finally getting to fully explore our new home state of Colorado. I know it’s a cheesy cliche, but we’ve really learned a lot about life by working through life’s joys and challenges together. We’ve grown in maturity, our love for each other and most importantly in our faith. Thank you for sharing this most special day of our lives (so far) with us!