Sarah Willis and Peter William Timmins met in April 2016 at a fundraiser for the now-closed Primrose Hill School in Rhinebeck, New York, where Willis’s son was enrolled. At the time, both were navigating personal challenges. Willis, a yoga instructor based in Rhinebeck and New York City, was recently separated and sharing custody of her son. Timmins, a wealth management adviser at UBS in New York, had been widowed for more than two years and was raising his daughter in their Upper East Side apartment.

Initially, neither was actively seeking a new relationship. They found themselves seated next to each other during the event and connected over conversations about parenting and their shared upbringing in Manhattan—Willis from the Upper West Side and Timmins from the Upper East Side. Their discussion eventually turned to Timmins’s late wife, Amy Spratt, who died from a brain aneurysm. This exchange marked a moment of emotional openness. Despite the serious tone, a mutual attraction emerged between them.

After exchanging contact information, they did not reconnect for over a year. By then, both had begun dating and had profiles on the dating app Bumble. Willis reached out directly upon recognizing Timmins’s profile, prompting him to ask her out within minutes. Their first date took place in August 2017 at Boulud Sud, a now-closed Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper West Side. The date led to several more weekend meetings, often with Willis traveling from Rhinebeck to New York City.

Their relationship deepened through shared experiences, including cooking dinners, playing backgammon, and spending time with their children. Timmins’s daughter and Willis’s son, now 12 and 14 respectively, became part of their blended family. The couple spent weekends in Bridgehampton, New York, where Timmins’s family owns a home, and participated in city outings such as attending a Rockettes performance at Radio City Music Hall.

Despite Timmins being deeply in love, he harbored hesitations about remarriage, having been through two previous marital experiences—the first ending in divorce and the second with his wife’s passing in 2014. Willis was more certain about marriage and spent two years nurturing their relationship before Timmins agreed. The couple became engaged during a Christmas morning walk on a Bridgehampton beach in 2022 and plan to maintain their long-distance relationship between Rhinebeck and New York as their children grow.