The Road to This Wedding Was Paved With Theft, Lies, Tears

Sobriety sometimes leads to marriage –

Jan. 8, 2021 – The lessons from the love story of Irene Sibaja and Hal Karp are many, but here are some of the more obvious: The old dating adage “right person, wrong time” is real; forgiveness is a gift; sharing your darkest moments can have a positive outcome; and looking for an ex online can sometimes be a good idea.

Mr. Karp and Ms. Sibaja first met in 1993. Mr. Karp, who graduated from Southern Methodist University, had grown up in Denver and Dallas, the oldest of three children of David Karp and Renee Karp. Ms. Sibaja, from Houston, was the third of four children of Jane Root and the late Dr. Elihu Root. Ms. Sibaja graduated from Rice University and has an M.B.A. from Harvard, and was working in Dallas for Bain & Company in strategy consulting.

Mr. Karp was then a freelance writer and editor. He had organized an event, through a young adults’ group at Temple Emanu-El in Dallas, to update a playground he had designed a few years earlier for children with H.I.V. Ms. Sibaja went to volunteer.