Suzanne Lynn Grossman and JB Sugar were married Jan. 26 at All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne, Vt. Rabbi Jan Salzman officiated.
The bride, who is 42 and will be taking her husband’s name, works in Shelburne handling content-driven marketing programs for a variety of publications at the Meredith Corporation, the media company. She graduated from Vanderbilt University and received a master’s degree in publishing from N.Y.U.
She is the daughter of Dr. Robert B. Grossman of Manasquan, N.J., and the late Barbara B. Grossman. The bride’s father is an orthopedic surgeon in private practice in Red Bank, N.J. The bride is the stepdaughter of Gale Grossman.
The groom, 55, leads sales as a vice president at AdSwerve, a Google marketing partner with headquarters in Denver. He graduated from Pennsylvania State University.
He is the son of Suzanne D. Sugar of Chappaqua, N.Y., and the late Bert Sugar. The groom’s father was a boxing aficionado, a sports journalist, historian and author.
The groom’s first marriage ended in divorce.
Ms. Grossman and Mr. Sugar met in May 2011 on an airplane that was about to leave New York for Florida. When Ms. Grossman, who is 5 feet 3 inches, arrived at her designated seat, she realized it was located between two tall men who were already seated, one of whom was Mr. Sugar, who is 6 feet 3 inches.
“How lucky are you that a 5-foot-3-inch woman is sitting next to you instead of another tall guy,” Ms. Grossman playfully said to Mr. Sugar, who was on his way to a digital media convention in Fort Myers, Fla.
Mr. Sugar looked up from the newspaper he was reading, laughed and said he thought to himself, “Huh, she’s pretty cute.”
Moments later, Ms. Grossman floored Mr. Sugar by asking him, “Who won that fight last night?” She was referring to a light-heavyweight championship bout between Jean Pascal and Bernard Hopkins, who, at 46, was attempting to become the oldest world champion in history.
“Did you really just ask me that?” Mr. Sugar said.
After telling her that Mr. Hopkins had won, Mr. Sugar added that his father, Bert Sugar, was a boxing authority and raconteur. (Bert Sugar died the following year.)
Ms. Grossman, a boxing fan who grew up watching sports with her three older brothers, texted one of them, asking if he had ever heard of the name Bert Sugar. Within seconds he texted her back: “Bert Sugar is the king.”
Their conversation continued, and as it turned out, Ms. Grossman and Mr. Sugar, who were both living in Manhattan and working in the digital advertising industry, were heading to the same conference.
“I was thrilled to hear that,” Mr. Sugar said.
During their chat above the clouds, Ms. Grossman told Mr. Sugar that the sport of boxing was also in her blood. Her great-uncle, the late Leonard Rodman, a pharmacist who owned Rodman Discount Drugs in Bethesda, Md., had gone to the University of Maryland on a boxing scholarship, and later invested money that went toward the training of professional fighters, the most notable of them the former heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe.
“She was just a great conversationalist, and super smart as well,” Mr. Sugar said. “We did not stop speaking until we landed.”
Ms. Grossman, who said she enjoyed listening to Mr. Sugar’s “distinctive voice,” proved it by resuming their conversation at the conference, where, she said, they spoke “for hours on end.”
“The whole time, he kept making me smile and laugh,” she said.
They exchanged business cards, kept in touch, began dating — and went the distance.
“After all of this time, we are still enjoying our conversations,” Mr. Sugar said, “still making each other laugh and smile.”
