While dating, Patricia O’Malley (from King of Prussia) and Samuel Kolman (from Elkins Park) thought their differences were insurmountable. She was Catholic. He is a Jew. They were both healthcare students: she at pharmacy school, he at medical school.
The outside pressures led the couple to break up. But as Kellie Patrick Gates reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer, that wasn’t the end of their story.
O’Malley and Kolman originally met at a family dinner. Feeling a connection (even across a large table), O’Malley and Kolman became Facebook friends.
The online exchanges drifted into flirting, which led to a first date, a shared, at-home pizza.
Kolman, however, began to question the impact of their religious differences. Succumbing to what he called “pressure,” they broke up.
O’Malley moved to Washington, D.C.; Kolman took a residency in New York City.
For two years, they dated others unsuccessfully.
Pining for her former connection, O’Malley texted Kolman: “Do you remember me?”
He did, and they reunited.
A Christmas 2018 proposal was followed by a civil ceremony at Philadelphia’s City Hall.
Life for the couple then took some significant turns: O’Malley converted to Judaism. And three baby girls made for a family of five.
Recently, the couple remarried in a Jewish ceremony at Abington Art Center.
The full story of the Kolman family is at The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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Walk through of the wedding facility at Abington Art Center.
