Sarah (Mathews) Collins, ESIA BA '08, CCAS MA '15, and Paul Collins, SEAS BS '06, overlapped a bit at GW, but never met on campus. Which, for their long-term prospects, may be for the best.
“I like to say if she had known me then she never would have married me,” says Paul with a laugh.
Nearly a decade later, Paul and Sarah were each living in South Boston, still strangers - but not for long. Paul’s mother and Sarah’s grandmother had both taught at a Catholic school in Western Massachusetts, and remained friends. They compared notes and realized they each had a family member who’d gone to GW and now lived in Boston.
The school teachers shared Sarah’s email address with Paul. The waiting began. Two months passed.
After additional prodding by his mother, Paul finally sent an email. It was very sweet and appropriately apologetic for the time lapse, Sarah says. Paul established his GW cred by asking if she frequented Froggy Bottom or Lindy’s, two bars known to most GW alumni from their days in D.C.
Sarah met Paul for dinner and drinks at Local 149, a neighborhood restaurant, and they got along great, much to the delight of their very anxious matchmakers.
[caption id="attachment_14859" align="alignright" width="300"] Paul, Sarah, and friends.[/caption]
“They bit their tongues and did not ask questions for three months, which about killed them,” says Paul.
After 51 weeks of dating, Paul gave Sarah a thoughtful note about how much joy she had brought him, and how he looked forward to gro
wing and learning together with her. But when he didn't get the reaction he was hoping for, he asked for the note back.
Since he hadn't actually written “Will you marry me?” in the note, Paul needed to explain that he was indeed asking for Sarah's hand in marriage.
She replied, “Yes, of course!”
This past fall, the couple were married at Saint Brigid in South Boston before heading to the reception at the Sheraton Commander Hotel in Cambridge. The hotel is George Washington themed, since the man himself took command of the Continental Army on the Cambridge Common across the street.
Paul’s mother and Sarah’s grandmother processed into the reception hall with speakers blasting “Matchmaker” from Fiddler on the Roof. GW grads from both sides took many photos with the George Washington statue. By coincidence, the casting is one of five made, and another of them is in University Yard at GW.
The wedding was full of happiness and laughter featuring friends and family who were invited - and even some old GW pals who weren’t but crashed anyway. Paul and Sarah didn’t mind, though, as there was enough joy and champagne to go around!
-Dan Simmons