The first time they met, Edward Seaman and Julia Coombs were attending a camp in Belfast, Ireland, for teenagers who had lost parents to terrorism.

The second time they met, Mr. Seaman saw Ms. Coombs walking toward him at orientation at Loyola University Maryland. To his blushing dismay, Mr. Seaman promptly spilled his Diet Coke all over the lunch table.

Within a year they had fallen in love. Now they are planning a wedding by the ocean in Newport, R.I., in October.

The ceremony will include tributes to their fathers, both killed in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Ms. Coombs and Mr. Seaman say they feel grateful to have found a partner who knows what it is like to endure sudden, lasting heartache from such a public tragedy. On the 9/11 anniversary, they often walk across the Brooklyn Bridge together to see the lights shining from the Manhattan memorial.