He Kept His Word
He had made a promise so long ago, yet he was trembling now that the time had really arrived.
It may be hard to believe that love will appear at first sight for some people, but he knew immediately who he would marry. When everyone laughed at him in class, he fell in love with her. They all had no idea that he would follow his promise.
Young Love
Love works in mysterious ways, and it can be both magical and beautiful. Everyone deserves to fall in love once in their lives. Matt Grodsky met his true love when he was just three years old.
Her name was Laura Scheel, and Matt always did everything he could to try and impress her. They were best friends, but everyone around them could see that they were so much more than that.
Best Friends
Matt and Laura went to the same preschool in Phoenix, Arizona. It wasn’t long before the tiny tots were inseparable. By the time they were four, they were spending all their time together.
Nobody had ever seen anything like it - the pair had a unique and special bond right from the beginning. Unfortunately, their parents knew it couldn’t last. And sadly, they were right.
Playground Buddies
The two little lovebirds spent long, happy days on the playground. Laura loved Matt’s goofball antics - they were always laughing and exploring together.
The teachers and parents who saw their friendship develop thought they were adorable but didn’t think it would extend into the future. To everyone’s surprise, they were both right and wrong.
Peas In A Pod
Laura and Matt were like two peas in a pod. They didn’t just spend their time together at school, they planned their weekends ahead of time to spend even more time together.
They created so many happy memories together - Laura taught Matt how to use the swing and how to eat string cheese the “right” way, and he entertained her by re-enacting scenes from their favorite movie, The Lion King. But, one day, Matt did something so surprising that the whole classroom would mock him for it.
“Just You Wait!”
That fateful day, Matt couldn’t contain himself. He was only four years old at the time, but he had to tell the whole world how he felt. He stood up in front of the entire class and professed his love for Laura.
“Just you wait!” he exclaimed as the whole class laughed at him. He vowed to marry Laura one day. Of course, nobody took him seriously. But, as the lovebirds grew up, their journeys took them on separate roads.
Separate Paths
When it was time for Laura and Matt to start kindergarten, they ended up going to different schools.
Although they tried to remain good friends throughout the years, they inevitably drifted apart. They were now growing up and living separate lives. By the time they both started elementary school, the two best friends had become complete strangers. Then, something changed.
Moving On
As Laura and Matt grew up, made new friends, and had new experiences, it was easy for them to forget about their past. For a moment, it seemed like the pair had grown up and moved on.
Seven years passed. Then, one day, Laura saw something that made all those old feelings come rushing back.
High School
Matt and Laura were now attending high school, and they were further apart than ever. Until the day when Laura saw something that made her feel strange.
It was the fall of her freshman year. Laura was scrolling through her close friends’ phone when she saw Matt’s name come up in her contact list. Her reaction to seeing her old friend’s name came out of the blue and completely surprised her.
A Plan
Just the sight of Matt’s name had made Laura flush, and her friend immediately asked her what was going on.
Laura told her friend about her childhood sweetheart Matt, but as she did this, her friend already had a plan up her sleeve. Laura’s friend was determined to get these preschool sweethearts back together. But would her plan work?
Setting Them Up
Laura’s friend wanted to set her up with Matt again, but Laura had a different idea – “I was a freshman in high school, so I was like, ‘I don’t think so!’” Laura told People.
Despite having shown no interest in contacting Matt again, her friend gave Matt her number anyway. Laura was very nervous about the whole situation, but then Matt surprised her in such an incredible way that all her nerves seemed to have just flown away.
Reunited
Not long after, Laura received a text from Matt, and they both agreed to meet up. Both of them had no idea what to expect as so many years had passed, but clearly, the chemistry was still there.
They met up at a movie theatre and hit it off right away, it felt like they had never stopped being friends, or sweethearts for that matter. After just two weeks from the initial text from Matt, these two were officially dating. Even so, these two weren’t in the clear. They had a lot more to overcome.
Different Lives
Matt and Laura spent all the time they could together and saw each other weekly. But soon, it was time for both to go on to college and they both knew how difficult this was going to be.
“Right after we graduated from high school, we were pretty hesitant,” said Laura in an interview with People. “We were like, ‘Do we stay together? Do we try to make it work.’”
Destiny
Once again, the paths of these two were destined to split, but they knew they had to fight for what they wanted, and they did. Laura enrolled at Northern Arizona University, and Matt moved to Chicago to attend Columbia College.
Even though these two were miles apart, they ensured nothing would separate them again as it had after preschool. Little did Laura know, a vow Matt once made in a packed classroom was as real as it was the first day he announced it.
Where It All Began
Senior year of College came for these two lovebirds. Matt wanted to surprise Laura in the most incredible way he thought possible. “I convinced Laura that we were going to a picnic at the preschool. We had just finished up our junior year of college, so I framed it as a nice relaxing date,” Matt told Huffington Post.
When they arrived at the surprise destination, Matt got down on one knee and proposed to Laura. “YES” Laura exclaimed, “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this happening?’. But indeed it was, and Matt had everything sweetly planned. “I proposed to her at the place it all began … our preschool classroom.”
Love From The Beginning
“When you like someone, you just kind of stand up and say it,” Matt said in an interview. He had known from the very beginning he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Laura.
As soon as she saw the ring, she couldn’t hold back her emotion. ‘This is gorgeous. I’m so happy with it.’ I had no idea,” she exclaimed. Little did these two know, they were about to make headlines.
Tying The Knot
In December 2016, Matt and Laura tied the knot after almost 20 years of having vowed they would.
Matt’s uncle officiated the wedding and went on to describe their relationship as: “For most kids in preschool, it’s about finding your snacks and your sleeping mats, but for them, it was about finding their soulmates.” But still, the couple would wake up one morning and find that their faces were all over social media.
Viral Post
Soon after these two became official husband and wife, Laura posted the story of how they met on social media. It became an instant hit and got caught by a social media account called “The Way We Met” which recounts amazing stories of how couples met.
The post became an instant hit, and the caption started off with Matt explaining how these lovebirds began: “I was enamoured with Laura as a child, and I still am to this day,” he declared. But his story is only one of several heart warming ones.
Vivid Memories
Across the pond, a similar incident occurred where two unexpecting lovers found their history ran deeper than they could’ve ever imagined.
After years of vivid memories of a small town, they both took a trip that would result in their chance of meeting. They would stumble onto an eye-opening discovery that showed them they were meant to be together.
Chase And Erica
Chase And Erica had met on a backpacking trip across Europe in their mid-twenties. One look at Chase and Erica knew she was in trouble.
Chase was not only good-looking but had the kindness of a monk. He always smiled and engaged Erica on topics that charged her mind with curiosity. The two didn’t know what fate had in store for them.
Destined To Meet
The trip only lasted two months, yet Erica and Chase felt like they had known each other more than that. In Erica’s words, “I felt like I we’d spent decades together.”
She described her first month talking to Chase as otherworldly. There was a familiarity to him that she couldn’t understand. But the reason why is what makes everything even more special.
A Strong Pull
For the longest time, Erica, a lady born and raised in Italy, had always felt a pull to a small town near Bucharest, Romania. Though she’d never visited the place, it always felt like she’d led a life there.
She couldn’t explain the feeling, but most of the nights she slept, she would have dreams of the place. She could smell the local cuisine and hear the local music. She had no idea what was going on.
Hidden Secrets
Erica got accustomed to these feelings through puberty and her teenage years. But as she turned twenty-five, it became difficult to suppress the feelings bubbling within her.
If Erica had felt a connection to Bucharest when she was younger, now she felt a powerful pull to the place. She had no clue what awaited her there.
Meet Chase
Unknown to her, something similar was happening in America, where a twenty-eight-year-old Chase was undergoing the same thing. He couldn’t explain his connection to Bucharest but felt strongly that he’d lived there once.
To make matters even more mind-boggling, Chase felt he’d once had a lovely wife with whom he’d professed his undying love. He didn’t know what to make of these feelings.
A Farm, A Dog, And A Wife
For Chase, some of the ‘memories’ felt too real to ignore. He’d dream of tilling the land as his dog followed him across the field or spending time with his wife after the day’s hard work.
But seeing as he came from a city with little to no farms, Chase couldn’t explain where these ‘memories’ were coming from. He knew he needed to get to the root of the matter.
The Farm
After months of planning, Chase, alongside a few friends, took a trip to Europe. Although the trip was meant to take them all over the continent, his mind was only set on one country: Romania.
Imagine his surprise when he toured the outskirts of Bucharest to find the same farm he’d always thought of. Although the place was rundown, with the locals saying the last people to own the farm were an old couple about a century past, Chase knew what he was looking for was there.
They Finally Meet
He spent a few days exploring the area, from the field that felt so familiar to the local food, drink, and stories. He didn’t know he wasn’t the only one overwhelmed with the need to find answers that week.
Chase was walking in the derelict compound when he saw her. Although she was dressed for the Romanian cold, he could tell she was gorgeous. Even without talking to her, he knew he’d found her.
We Belong Together
Erica was stunned as she stared at the man. She couldn’t explain it but knew he was the answer to her questions. He seemed surprised to see her as well and couldn’t find his words for the next five minutes.
The two got down to talking. “The connection was instant. It’s like we’d done this a million times over,” Erica told her local news. But that was only the beginning.
A Reincarnation
The two formed a duo for the rest of their backpacking trip. With each conversation they had, more similarities seemed to come to the fore.
They both could remember sheltering from storms in their hut, or feeding their poultry during the summer. “Erica thinks we might be a reincarnation of the couple who lived in that farm,” Chase said.
Seeing The Future
Erica and Chase started dating, which felt like a continuation of something that had always been there. They still can’t explain what brought them together or their pull toward that piece of land in Romania.
Now happily married, they are working on a plan to go back and buy the land in Romania. In their own words. “We hope to rebuild it so we can find each other there again when the end comes.”
In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.