Dr. Samuel L. Jacobs and William Thomas Kennedy IV plan to wed Oct. 3 in Brigantine, N.J.
Jacobs, from the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, works for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Kennedy, from Belleville, is a Realtor. The couple currently lives in Collingswood, N.J.
They met through a mutual friend a little over a year ago and said they quickly fell for one another.
“We have a friend who lived in Lancaster at the time. He had a little dinner party and asked me to come out there and join a bunch of the guys for dinner,” Jacobs said. “I asked him, ‘Is there going to be anyone single there that I might be interested in?’”
Jacobs’ friend suggested Kennedy, but cautioned he wasn’t sure if the two would be a good match — though Jacobs said he was thankfully wrong.
“That evening we clicked,” said Jacobs. “But he was living in Harrisburg and I was in Collingswood.”
They kept in touch and eventually had their first date at the Continental-Midtown in Philadelphia. Their next date took them to Wildwood, N.J., for a beach weekend.
“We knew there was chemistry. We continued to communicate and see each other,” Jacobs said.
The informal proposal happened on their one-year anniversary, May 3, 2015.
“We were just laying in bed talking about how we wanted to proceed going forward,” Jacobs said. “I was actually on the phone with my attorney at one point and she said it would be a lot easier with things like a will if we were married.”
At that point, neither of them had popped the question to the other.
“I got off the phone and said to Bill, ‘You know she has a point. It might be better to get married.’ So Bill said, ‘OK. Will you marry me?’ And I said yes.”
Jacobs said he admires Kennedy’s big heart.
“He makes me very, very happy. He’s the most wonderful, big-hearted person you could meet,” said Jacobs. “He just goes out of his way to be there for me, and on top of him being the most caring person I’ve met, he is honest to a fault.
“He’s friggin’ hot too,” he laughed. “That doesn’t hurt at all.”
Kennedy said he loves that Jacobs is always there for him.
“I just fell in love with his heart. He will sit and listen and give me feedback and is there for me when I need him,” Kennedy said. “The night I met him, I knew I was going to marry him.”