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Partners
Nearly four decades after they first dated, these high school sweethearts followed through on a pact to tie the knot if they were both still single at 50.
After their high school courtship came to an end nearly 37 years ago, Ron Palmer (54) and Kimberley Dean (52) from St Paul, Minnesota in the US, kept in contact, insisting they wanted to stay friends.
Never going more than six months without speaking to each other, the pair agreed to meet after both their marriages collapsed when they were in their thirties.
During their reunion they even jokingly suggested they should marry if they were both single at 50.
But unbeknown to the singletons then, Kimberley’s passing comment would become a vow of companionship when two decades later they tied the knot on 1 June this year.
After breaking up in 1981 when Ron graduated from high school, the pair both went on to marry and then divorce other people, with Kim having two children, Kayla (30) and Konner (23).
Kimberley says although they stayed in contact over the years, it was her passing comment that set the ball rolling again.
“During one of those talks about 20 years ago, we were speaking about retirement when Ron joked he’d have nobody to leave his things to – I jokingly said he could leave them to me.
“At the time we were both pretty tired of dating. I jokingly suggested we should get married if we were both single at 50, but this was just a joke – we never considered it seriously.”
Then in January 2016 Ron called Kimberley to tell her his long-term relationship had ended, and just six months later she was also single once more.
In September 2016 they went on their second first date when Kimberley remembered the pact they’d made years ago.
“It was sometime in 2016 that I remembered the pact for some reason – we weren’t even engaged at the time,” Kimberley says.
“We wanted to take things slowly as we’d both been through so much in our past relationships and we didn’t want to lose each other too.”
By New Year’s Eve 2017 the former lovebirds were engaged.
Kimberley, a youth worker, said it feels unbelievable.
“It’s almost surreal that after all these years we’re finally together – we’re so happy.
“I think our friends and family were surprised but also not surprised when the news leaked that we were seeing each other again.
“I think I speak for Ron as well when I say we always knew there was something between us – we knew we were supposed to be together from the first time we met.”
“I think we’ll always be frustrated that we didn’t get together sooner but we both believe this is the way it was supposed to be.”
The couple married in a park close to where they grew up.
“We kept everything about our wedding close to us and where we started,” Kimberley says.
“Right now we’re still learning things about each other and looking forward to what the future may hold.
“We’ve thought about what would happen if we did get married when we were younger.
“We don’t have the answer but I think we both agree we’d go through all of it again to get to where we are now – together.”
