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John Walsh and Keri Blizniak started dating in spring 2007. Several months later, Blizniak’s father learned he had advanced lymphoma. Shortly after that, her mother found out she had fourth stage inoperable lung cancer.

Walsh’s own father died in 2009, and while at the funeral, Blizniak received news that her mother had died.

But out of those tragedies, a strong bond was forged.

“There were so many difficult events that occurred in a compressed period of time,” said Walsh, 51. “We were actually planning my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary when we got news about my dad. It’s hard to describe what it was like to go through all of that. But sometimes it was almost like sleepwalking, and we were just so lucky to have each other to lean on during that period.”

As the 38-year-old Blizniak explained in their contest entry, “Being in love with someone is easy when things are going well and life is smiling on you. But loving someone and supporting them in their darkest hours is what true love is all about. John and I have true love. Of that I am sure.”

Walsh, a native of Worcester, Mass., and Blizniak, who hails from Coopersburg, Pa., had actually known each other for about five years before they started dating, having both worked at Mack Trucks in Allentown, Pa.

Walsh, the company’s director of media relations, was transferred when the company moved to Greensboro last year. Blizniak followed and got a job as a communications manager for parts and marketing at Volvo.

On Valentine’s Day this year, Walsh proposed over dinner at the Hotel Roanoke in Virginia. It was a moment Blizniak describes as their most embarrassing. Just before dessert, he walked over to her side of the table and got down on one knee.

“I didn’t even know what was going on. I was like, 'What are you doing?’ ” she said. “First of all, he’s not a big commercial holiday person, so he knew I would never suspect that he would propose on Valentine’s Day. And the woman behind us, she grabs her husband and goes, 'look, look, look at this.’ And he gets down on his knee, and I’m like, 'Are you OK?’ And the woman behind us starts clapping.”

“Keri breaks down crying,” Walsh said. “I’m crying and the whole room just erupts into applause. I had no sense of the crowd being there at all until that moment.”

Blizniak describes Walsh as her “savior” for standing by her in the months after her father learned he had lymphoma and her mother cancer. The most difficult moment in their relationship came on the morning of the funeral for Walsh’s father when Blizniak’s father called to say her mother had died.

“When you go through something like that, emotions are raw, and true character gets exposed,” Walsh said. “And I couldn’t get over how Keri handled everything, what she gave me and my family, even though she was devastated.”

And they also realized, as Blizniak said, how “truly blessed we are to have found each other in this world.”

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com