Our Story Begins

Sarah was visiting her Grandma in Lowville, NY the summer before going to college. She decided to go up to Canada for an evening with her friends Charity, Grace, and Faith given that she has never been. Sarah's friends are familiar with Canada given that they have family in Ontario. Charity invited her cousins along, but only one ended up meeting them. It just so happened to be Justin. Immediately, Sarah and Justin caught each other's eye. They all had dinner together at the Barley Mow in Brockville. Afterward, they walked through the Brockville Railroad Tunnel and along the St. Lawrence River. It was a night full of twinkling lights, laughter, and smiles. When it came time to depart, Sarah and Justin kept it too themselves that they wanted to get to know each other better. Because Sarah lived in Colorado while going to school in Texas and Justin lived in Canada, they believed nothing would come from it. Even still, they thought of each other now and then. Little did they know, they would speak again 2 years later.

Sarah was heading back to Colorado after spending a couple weeks in New York for Charity's wedding. Charity had married Sarah's brother, Brendan, and Sarah had the honor of being a bridesmaid in the wedding. She also happened to be the only bridesmaid without a boyfriend or husband. Charity and Grace had fun with Sarah about "giving her rose" to one of the guys they thought Sarah would be a good match for. Sarah laughed it off, but in reality, Justin came to mind again. The bridal party took advantage of the fact that Sarah was thinking of Justin the night before the wedding. Justin called Charity to congratulate her on getting married. With many giggles and smiles, Charity took the opportunity to not only embarrass Sarah, but to convince Justin to send Sarah a follow request on Instagram. Sarah accepted it the day of the wedding, August 1st. Flash forward to the night before Sarah was flying back to Colorado, Sarah stayed the night at Charity's parents house in Adams, NY. Grace and Sarah had a girl talk late that night. It was then that Sarah planned to be bold enough to reach out to Justin the next day, just to say 'Hi' and catch up. Brenda, Charity's mom/Justin's aunt, drove Sarah to the airport on the morning of August 5th. Between flights, Sarah texted Justin through Instagram. He had called her while she was in Denver where they had their first one-on-one conversation over the phone that lasted almost 2 hours. Sparks flew and a relationship built on friendship began.

After talking everyday since August 5th for hours on end, Sarah and Justin began falling in love. Even though they were separated by 1, 737 miles and closed borders, Justin had asked Sarah to be his girlfriend during a late night phone call. They continued to struggle with their long distance relationship months after, but with strong communication, honesty, patience, trust, and God's guidance, they held onto one another, growing in love.

It had been nine long months, 263 days to be exact, of being long distance boyfriend and girlfriend before finally getting to be together! Justin had flown into DFW airport to see Sarah after she had finished her third year of college. With joy, Sarah ran into Justin's arms for the first time since that night in Brockville. They were only able to spend 10 days together, but they were 10 wonderful days. From DFW, Sarah and Justin drove to Kansas for a night to spend time with Justin's aunts, Ann and Pauline, who he hasn't seen for a couple years because of COVID. They were very kind and welcoming. From there, they drove West through the Rocky Mountains, Sarah's home in Colorado. They went on many hikes, long walks, star-gazed, and soaked up every moment they had with one another during that short time.

After so much stress, many tears, and 3 negative COVID tests, Sarah was able to fly to New York and cross the Canadian border by land to be reunited with Justin again! She got to celebrate Justin's 25th birthday with him, explore his home, and to simply be in his presence. Though it was very humid and buggy, it was a beautiful place to be!

Just a couple days before Sarah's trip to Canada concluded, Sarah and Justin had a romantic dinner at his home. She made the meal and he set the table. Their hearts were full as they made eyes at each other the whole evening. After taking a few pictures, Justin insisted on 'going on an adventure' together. To Sarah, he meant driving into Brockville and having an ice cream date along the St. Lawrence River, revisiting the spot where they last saw each another on the night they had met. That was what they did. They wanted to walk through the tunnel, but for a couple reasons, they ended up sitting on a bench by a fountain and flower bushes that were located above the tunnel instead. They talked for awhile, reflecting on how far they've come. Justin insisted they look at the coins in the fountain as an excuse to get Sarah to stand up with him. Sarah joked, "Why, do you want to steal them?" They stood up and looked anyway. Sarah still held onto him. He asked Sarah something in wonder of what it would be like getting to spend the rest of their lives together. Continuing to joke, Sarah told him he would have to ask her a certain question. He replied, "what question would that be?". Sarah said with giggles, continuing to joke, "You very well know what question that is. You can figure it out. If you really need help, you should Google it!" Momentarily, Sarah noticed Justins hands had let go of her. Before she was able to retrieve his hands again, he asked, "Is it a question like this?". He grabbed her right hand, got down on one knee with an enchanting rose-gold ring in hand and asked, "Will you marry me, Sarah Rose Wagler?" Sarah was shocked in the most exciting way. She was speechless, yet stuttered with the biggest smile on her face, "Justin, wha-what are you doing?" She held out her left hand, he slipped the ring on her finger, and she grabbed his face with both hands before finally saying, "YES!!" He got up and embraced her. No moment was more magical than this one.