September 26,2026

It all started with an underage drinking ticket, right before Paweł’s 21st birthday—which he was, obviously, thrilled about. During college, he came home one weekend and decided to meet up at his friend’s house party, where they were drinking non-alcoholic beverages, of course. The cops who showed up later that night decided to join the fun—with their breathalyzers. Nervous about what might happen next, Paweł did what any totally innocent college kid would do—he got himself a lawyer. So, six hundred dollars later, the lawyer and judge decided he should “give back to the community” by volunteering at a local church—spending his summer days spraying Lysol and sanitizing every seat during COVID. How fun that was! One evening after one of his volunteering shifts, the priest invited Paweł to stay for youth night. He wasn’t too interested at first—until he heard there would be "kielbasa." Sarah, on the other hand, was with her friends, enjoying youth night, when Paweł confidently strode up and started shaking everyone’s hand to introduce himself—well, everyone except Sarah. When he reached out to her, she didn’t shake it. She mumbled something under her breath. At the time, she was eating kielbasa, fingers greasy, and there was no way she was letting their first interaction go down with greasy fingers. To Paweł, it looked like she didn’t want anything to do with him—but really, she was just trying to save herself from embarrassment. Little did either of them know, that awkward handshake—or lack thereof—was the start of a story that, six years later, would lead to a wedding at the very same church. Kielbasa - Polish Sausage