Sarah and Ron's story begins with a mutual friend, Tait. Sarah and Tait first met in high school. They didn’t become close friends, however, until they found each other again at Kent State University, and their friendship continued when they both ended up moving to Highland Square, in Akron. Ron met Tait in 2016 when she started working at their now job in downtown Cleveland.

Fast forward to 2021, when Tait and another coworker had been talking to Ron about trying to set him up, and Tait thought she might have the perfect single girlfriend for him. That evening, she reached out to Sarah to ask if she would be interested in dating a guy she worked with.

Along with that text, Tait sent a black and white, side profile photo of Ron from 2014. She told Sarah this was the only photo she could find of him online. And although it wasn’t much to go off, Sarah thought he was cute from that angle and that the adorable little girl he was holding helped too (Sarah later learned that it was one of nine of his beautiful nieces, Niomi). She eventually told Tait that she was welcome to share her information with Ron and see if he would be interested as well. The next day Tait gave Ron Sarah’s phone number, and two days later Ron reached out to her.

They immediately hit it off and had many enjoyable conversations. Two days after that, Sarah asked if they could meet in person. Ron of course agreed and set up their first date. Ron suggested they meet at the Honey Hut for ice cream, and then head next door to the Brecksville Reservation for a hike afterwards. Sarah was of course so nervous that she accidentally went to the park first and ended up being late.

When she finally arrived, Ron was patiently waiting for her on the bench outside of the ice cream shop. The first thing Sarah noticed was his great big smile, and his beautiful blue eyes. That of course made things even more nerve-racking for her, and more awkwardness ensued. She misread the board with the ice cream options not once, but twice, and ended up receiving some kind of milkshake when she thought she ordered two scoops ice cream in a bowl. Much to her relief, Ron had been unaware of the whole situation until she told him about it later.

The date only got better from there. They ended up having so much fun talking that they walked the full four miles without even realizing it. A week later, date number two was at Hinkley Lake Park where Sarah got to meet Denali for the first time, and it was all over for her. Denali sprinted into Sarah’s arms and she thought she was the most precious little princess baby girl that she had ever met!

After that hike they went to the Buzzard Cove for pizza, and then back to their cars parked at the ranger’s station. Ron, Sarah, and Denali had been sitting in Sarah’s car with the radio on talking for hours and didn’t realize that they accidently drained her car battery by the time they called it a night. Luckily, they both had jumper cables and were able to get it started again around one in the morning. After this, the dates only got better from there, and they just kept falling for each other more and more.

By July of 2022, they were picking up the keys to their first apartment together in North Royalton, and then in August 2023, they moved to their second apartment where they still reside in Fairlawn. Then, on November 4, 2023, they were camping with Sarah’s family for their annual “Campsgiving” weekend, when Ron got down on one knee and proposed to Sarah during the routine family photo. Sarah was completely surprised! Ron had asked her parents for her hand in marriage two months before, and in turn they gave him their blessing and a family ring to propose with. From that day forward they have been preparing for the big day and their future.

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