It was only a few months ago that Adrian Jablonski's proposal to his soulmate, Olia Mykulyshyn, lit up the skies over Newcastle.
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It was a balmy Saturday back in February when the veteran skywriting pilot Robert Vance put the final strokes on his 500-metre-tall masterpiece, and the words "Marry me Ola?" (Olia's petname) appeared emblazoned across the city's skyline.
At that moment, Adrian dropped to his knee at the Burwood Lookout and asked Olia to marry him.
The moment captured the city's heart as, overhead, Mr Vance turned the question mark into a heart. Olia said yes.
The couple have been living at Warners Bay since that special moment and, at the Newcastle Air Show on Saturday, November 18, among the crowd of thousands who had turned out to see the epic display of a century of Air Force aviation, had some big news to share.
Olia and Adrian are expecting a baby boy, their first child, in March.
Adrian beamed as he revealed he and Olia will soon welcome baby Michale Andrew Jablonski, named for Olia's grandfather Mykhailo Mykulyshyn.
"He was really the reason that (Olia's Ukranian family) came to Australia," Adrian said, "After World War II, Mykhailo stayed in Ukraine, but his brother Leon came out to Australia. That's where the connection is.
"We have named him Michael - it's a strong name, and it started everything. We would never have met if it wasn't for Michael and Leon."
The couple married about a month ago at Dudley Beach, surrounded by close friends and family, including Olia's family, who have come to visit from Ukraine. The reception was held at Cooks Hill.
"Everything has happened so quickly," Adrian said.
Adrian and Olia had met only a few months before the romantic proposal that stopped the city in February, but Adrian was in love from the moment he met Olia through a mutual friend at the Beach Hotel at Merewether.
It was a moment of romance at the end of a challenging year for the Hunter couple.
Olia came to Newcastle after fleeing the violence in her home country, where Russia's globally condemned war continues to wreak devastation and heartache on the population. In June last year, she was confronted by the news a rocket had destroyed her home there.
Since then, he hasn't lost any of the romantic and was beaming with Olia as he spoke about their expected arrival.
On Saturday, they were excited to be a part of the biggest single-day event in the region's history as the skies teemed with aircraft from the RAAF fleet.
"It was a once-in-a-decade opportunity," Adrian said, "I can't remember ever being to an air show, and everything that Olia and I do is about flying - I thought, let's do it."
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
