When Sarah and Eric Fish met in fall 2006 at The State News, Sarah had a boyfriend.
“We were friends when we first got connected at The State News,” Eric said.
By the end of summer 2007, Sarah was single and then they were dating, Eric said.
That fall at The State News, Eric was the sports editor and Sarah the campus editor.
“It was kind of the ideal way to have a relationship and just spend a lot of time with each other,” Eric said.
People who haven’t worked at The State News don’t really understand the time commitment, Sarah said.
“It was so refreshing when we started dating because we both got our commitment to the job and that always come first,” Sarah said. “It helped we were able to spend time together, but also pursue what we loved.”
Eric graduated in December 2007 and took a job in Indiana covering prep sports. Sarah was managing editor in spring 2008, a huge time commitment, she said.
Since Eric worked weekends covering sports, Sarah drove to Indiana every weekend and returned in time for Sunday meetings at The State News.
“That was the only way we could be together, if I went down for the weekend,” Sarah said.
In May 2008 they got engaged, and Sarah graduated in December 2008.
Eric took a job at The Flint Journal, and after she graduated, Sarah found a job at an alt-weekly in the Flint area.
It was not the job she pictured after college, but during the recession it was her only option, Sarah said.
They married in October 2009 and now live in Canton, Michigan, with three kids: Hudson, age 6, Graham, age 3, and Brenna, 9 months old.
“We became friends, and it was kind of nice because then when we started dating we didn’t have to go through that awkward getting to know you stage,” Eric said. “We just picked up where our friendship left off. I guess that’s the rest. Now we’ve got three kids and been married nine years this year.”
© The State News