CLEVELAND — An engagement, a new house, and a wedding.
They’re huge milestones for any couple as they start their lives together. But for one University Heights pair, they weren’t sure when or if they’d get there after a shocking cancer diagnosis.
But they were able to make it through with a little luck and a whole lot of love.
“It's just been a dream. Everything has fallen into place,” said Taylor Newman of University Heights.
Falling into place, just like her relationship with Drew Horn.
The couple met two and a half years ago and bonded over their love of traveling, music, and even a passion for numbers.
“Now we both work at Progressive as analysts. So we're both math people,” Horn said.
A quarantine spent together in their apartment brought them even closer and ready to start house hunting, but in September last year, their perfect love story took a terrifying turn.
“I decided to go to the doctor; I found a lump,” Horn said.
That lump turned out to be testicular cancer.
“Everything was shocking. But in the end, we knew that everything would be okay,” Newman said.
Horn had surgery nine days later and went through a round of chemotherapy, all with Newman by his side.
“We did everything together as a team. More than anything, I’m just amazed at him and his ability to go through such a rigorous chemo treatment so fast and come out with the same smile, the same strong attitude,” Newman said.
After chemo, Horn was more ready than ever to take his relationship with Newman to the next level. So just a few weeks after finishing treatment at the end of November, he proposed and she said yes.
“It was subtle and perfect for the time,” Newman said.
And then like the early days of their relationship, things started to fall into place once again. They closed on their new home in University Heights on New Year’s Eve, and then Newman saw an online ad for a free wedding at the Gordon Green in Cleveland, sponsored by pop-up wedding company Haus of Cool.
So she entered -- and they won.
“All of my friends and family would say that we would have been engaged for forever because we didn't want to plan it and didn't want to pay for it. And we wanted something small and intimate. So it worked out way too perfect,” Newman said.
Their dream wedding came together with just a week’s notice, and a whole lot of love and patience.
“I never thought in a million years that this is where we could have been X months later, just a short amount of time,” Newman said.
“We've been through all kinds of ups and downs the last few months, and this is really the top of the line here. The best. Save the best for last,” Horn said.
Jade Jarvis is a reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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