Sarah + John’s Wanderlove Story

Her Name: Sarah Lithgow
Her Birthplace: Ft. Walton Beach, FL
His Name: John Lithgow
His Birthplace: Panama City, FL

Where did you meet? Gainesville, FL at the University of Florida (Go Gators!)

Describe the very first time you met:  We met through a mutual friend (my roommate at the time) in the summer of 2005.  She and I lived in an apartment near the college bars, so lots of friends tended to crash on our couches in the wee hours.  John lingered one morning and we ended up bonding over some Braves baseball on TV. We were friends for about 6 months before we began dating.

Can you identify specific decisions or life events that brought you together? It’s funny how our lives have been intertwined, long before we met.  My mom and dad both went to the same high school as John.  My parents divorced when I was young and I grew up in Atlanta, but John grew up in the same town I was born in.  John’s mom was a longtime VP of the bank that my dad used for decades.  John used to play basketball as a kid with the son of my mom’s best friend from childhood.  When we got engaged and later married, it was funny to see the small town have an “a-ha” moment realizing how connected our families were, amazed that we never met until college.

What were your first impressions of each other and what initially attracted you?
Sarah: John is just a very likeable person.  It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like him.  He’s fun, easy going and funny.
John: I knew she was a girl I was interested in that first day watching the Braves.  How could I not be interested in a beautiful girl that was willing to sit on her friend’s bed and watch baseball with some guy she barely knew?  She was so easy to talk to and was always up for an adventure.

As you saw more of each other, what really made you fall in love?
Sarah: He never takes life too seriously, which was a good thing for me to work on! He is loyal, but lighthearted. He makes me laugh every day and it’s always a better day with him in it.
John: I love Sarah’s attitude.  She has a dash of sass and loves to laugh.  She also has the ability to be serious when necessary then relax and have fun!  And seeing her as a great mother makes me fall in love more and more each day!

Who proposed and how? John proposed in August 2008.  I knew a proposal was coming, but he still managed to catch me by surprise. He faked a dinner at a friend’s house and they “cancelled” last minute.  We went to dinner at our favorite hole-in-the-wall fried seafood place and afterwards he said he wanted to show me a cool dock on the marsh near my current house. When we got out there, my brother had set up a tent with wine and candles and John got down on one knee! Of course I said yes and as we were enjoying our wine, a police officer came onto the scene.  Apparently some riff raff had been frequenting this dock in the evenings and the police wanted to make sure we weren’t out causing trouble. In the end, he helped us break down our tent and congratulated us. It made for an eventful night!

Did your love face any big challenges? Any differences you had to work through? One thing we committed to from the point of engagement is taking our marriage seriously as a lifelong commitment.  Both of us come from long lines of divorced couples (back to our grandparents).  We didn’t want to continue that trend.  We work to nurture our marriage as we are sometimes overtaken by our role as parents.  Taking this opportunity to have a couples portrait session of “just us” was something I saw as spending time together being US, separate from being mommy and daddy.

Where do you live now? Charleston, SC. I got into grad school in Charleston and John followed to get a job in Charleston so we could be near each other. We love life in Charleston and always say it would take a lot for us to move.  There’s the water, the city, and always something to do in this town.  It’s just big enough to have lots of things going on, but not a “big” city by any means.

How do the places you have been together help define or shape your relationship? We built our relationship first on friendship and fun in college, which was a good baseline. As time went on, we became more committed and moving to the same city after college was a significant step.  We have come a long way in our careers, becoming homeowners and parents, and our relationship has evolved over that time.  I think our partnership and commitment has strengthened in ways I never expected. We are together quite often, as we both work from home, and it only seems to shore up our love and friendship, which isn’t always true of couples.

In your own words, describe your style as a couple: Active. We have 2 small boys, so sitting around isn’t common here! We also enjoy running and have trained for 3 half marathons together (planning another for next year!).  We are often outside either playing in the back yard, enjoying the boat or beach, or an outdoor festival or concert.  The weather in Charleston has very few days where it’s not enjoyable to be outside. We don’t take ourselves too seriously and just try to enjoy life!