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Life-Long Friends Make Good On Wedding Pact

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- We have seen this story before in the movies: Two friends agree if they are still single someday, they will tie the knot.

"It's more of a comedy [laughs]!" said Kimberley Dean of St. Paul.

For Dean and Ron Palmer, this is not a movie -- it is real life.

"It honestly started as a joke," Dean said.

Kimberly Dean and Ron Palmer In High School
Kimberly Dean and Ron Palmer in high school (credit: CBS)

Their story actually begins 37 years ago, when Dean and Palmer met at Saint Agnes School. They soon started dating.

"She loves everybody and everything," Palmer said. "There's not a jealous bone in her body, there's not a prejudice bone in her body."

But like many young loves, it fizzled out. They both went on to marry other people, but they stayed friends throughout the years -- through marriages, children and divorce.

Kimberly Dean and Ron Palmer
Kimberly Dean and Ron Palmer (credit: CBS)

Eventually, they made a pact.

"I said, 'OK, you know what? If you're not married and I'm not married, we'll just get married,'" Dean said.

The deadline was at age 50, and they are both just over 50 now, but they are staying true to their word. Palmer proposed on New Year's Eve, and they're getting married on Friday.

"We love each other," Dean said. "We've always known that, I think, we were meant to be together," Dean said.

They say you should marry your best friend. Dean and Palmer have close to four decades under their belt, and a lifetime to go.

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