Jackie and I's story began in the summer of 2017, in a city that is dear to our hearts, Athens, OH. While both of us were attending college at Ohio University (Go Bobcats!), we first met during summer semester through the bartender's community.

I had accepted a job at The Jbar, thanks to two of my best friends from college, Dan Rhinehart and George Applebee. If you know anything about Athens, you know that the bartending community is well connected. Some would even call it a fraternity. Which is how I got to meet Jackie. (George, thank you for landing me my dream job of being a Jbar bartender)

I soon created a strong friendship with Jackie and her staff mates from the local bar across the street, (the second greatest bar in Athens), The Crystal. It was no secret over the course of the next year, I became a frequent patron during Jackie's work shifts and additionally we began spending more time together.

Later on, during our final semesters of the 2018 school year, I became quite fond of Jackies kindness, her support of helping me raise my dog Xena, and of course her incredible cooking ability. She might tell you that she "took me in like a stray dog" throughout the weeks, but I would help from time to time, to show my worth.

As graduation rolled through, we both moved back home, still "just friends". That was until the fall of 2018, when I began to realize how important of a friend Jackie had become in my life and that I missed her. I also remember attending a Cleveland Browns tailgate that same fall with my best man, Joe Houk. That day Joe and I had a lot of conversations around what our futures were going to look like, post college. Of course, Joe had asked me about my friendship with Jackie and why the heck I was not dating her yet. Joe has often provided me some of the best advice throughout our lives, but that was the most important advice I ever received.

The next weekend I invited Jackie up to Cleveland to attend a Cavs game with me. We had our first date, at Mabels BBQ in downtown and got to enjoy the cavs game together. Two weeks following, Jackie invited me down to Cincinnati, to visit her hometown and meet her family.

Before I could even leave town, I had asked Jackie to be my girlfriend...and the rest was history!

Fastforward to 2019: We both accepted jobs in Columbus, OH. By 2022 we purchased our first home in Grove City, OH with our 2 dogs, Xena and Ruger. Our story is truly just getting started and we can't wait to seal the deal in June, with all of you.

-Joe

Tru by Hilton Grove City Columbus