Awesome - Bride-To-Be Sees Old Photo Of Husband And Learns Surprising Truth About His Past
Before committing to marriage, it’s a good idea to learn as much about your future spouse as you can. You don't want any skeletons in the closet to upend your partnership down the road. When Zachary Frankel and Alex Olsman were engaged, they thought they knew pretty much everything about one another. They were shocked to find out they still had a lot to learn about each other’s past, however. And this truth may have never come to light if it hadn't been for a dusty, forgotten photograph.
The Set-Up
Alex and Zach went on a blind date in October 2016. Their mutual friend set up the pair. "She was like, 'Well, how do you feel about redheads?'" Alex said, "I was like, 'Sure.' So, she immediately gets on her phone and she texted him."
Shared Past
A week later, the two went on their first date. Immediately, they discovered a few odd coincidences. "I grew up in Center City, Philadelphia, on a park called Rittenhouse Square, and Alex also grew up on this park," Zach said. The similarities didn't end there.
The Same People
"So, we quickly put that together and we knew all of the same people," Zach said. In a big city like Philly, it was surprising how well connected Alex and Zach were. Their friend definitely knew what they were doing setting up their blind date.
Weird Coincidence
They even had the chance to run into each other years earlier. "My best friend growing up had, in high school, briefly dated one of his best friends," Alex said. Those parallels brought the couple closer together. Things started getting serious, though neither was aware they were still missing a big piece of the puzzle.
Building Their Bond
It was only a matter of time until Zachary and Alex officially became an item. With the prospect of marriage on the horizon, Alex’s mom found something interesting — something that would shine a light on their fortuitous past. She didn't know what to tell them at first.
Clean Up
Alex's mom was preparing for a move, though that entailed moving a ton of old junk out of their house. Plenty of it was headed for the trash bin, but fortunately she paused before chucking one item. It was a stack of old photos — it must have been decades since anyone looked at them.
Preschool Photo
Amid other precious memories, Alex's mom discovered one of her preschool pictures. The photo showed a young Alex, sitting in the front in a blue shirt, smiling with the rest of her class. But hers wasn't the only face that stuck out to her mother.
Mysterious Boy
She could recall a handful of names from Alex's early days, but most of the kids were strangers to her. Still, the mother couldn't stop examining the red-haired boy off of Alex's shoulder. It even looked like their arms were touching.
Could It Be?
She dialed her daughter's number in a frenzy. Alex couldn't piece together what her mom was asking about at first. Something about her preschool class photo? But when she sent over a screenshot of the old picture, Alex saw what she was getting at.
Lookalikes
She thought her daughter was standing next to Zach, but Alex wasn’t sure. "Honestly, looking at the photo, Zach looks so different now than he did when he was five that I couldn't 100% say," she said. Many adults are completely unrecognizable from their childhood pictures.
Getting a Bit Emotional
"I had to show him the phone and be like, 'Wait, was this you?' And he was like, 'Yeah, that's me,'” Alex said. "I actually remember getting a little emotional. You read about stuff like this, but to have it happen to you, we never expected that because we were set up blindly."
Couldn’t Remember Meeting
It turns out that their parents had chosen the same Montessori preschool. "And we did put together that we were in the same preschool class but I couldn't place Zach,” Alex said. "I don't remember meeting as children or being in the same room, although I'm sure that we were.”
Overwhelming Truth
Alex wasn’t the only one overcome by the picture, Zach was also amazed with the physical evidence. "Seeing definitive proof was overwhelming," Zach said. Besides the Montessori school, they were also in the same museum art class at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
The Right Time
They were too young to remember this, too Even though they had plenty of opportunities to find the other while they were young, Alex said, "we definitely met at the right time." Zach decided to use their theme of chance meetings to pose a big question to his girlfriend.
Romantic Setting
A few weeks after they moved in together, Zach surprised Alex with a ring at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "It was just a really romantic, special setting in the museum that we took art classes in apparently, in the city that we both grew up in," Alex said. "It all felt really nice."
Save the Date!
The couple planned to get married in February 2020 in Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where Alex’s parents live. They also had the perfect idea for their Save the Date cards: they used their preschool photo. That’s a cute and unique way to share their wedding information with their guests. Though not everything went as they planned
They Didn’t Think of That
They also intended to hold a ceremony in the U.S. that December, one that would be in tandem with Alex’s grandpa’s 100th birthday. What they didn’t plan for was a pandemic that would sweep across the globe, pushing their dreams to the back burner.
A Wonderful Ceremony
Though their plans changed, Zach and Alex still managed to have an intimate wedding ceremony on September 4 in Mexico. And on December 27, they made their union official with only a few in-person guests, including Alex’s grandpa. The rest of the party watched on Zoom, safely socially distanced.
It Worked Out
"We really struggled trying to figure out what to do with COVID when we knew we were pushing back our wedding, but we ultimately decided honoring my grandfather was the best thing we could have done," Alex said. Fortunately, the revelation about their preschool connection made their scaled-down celebration one to remember.
Post-Wedding Bliss
The newlyweds expressed hope to re-celebrate their wedding once COVID calms down. Still, they’re so happy to have found each other, though Zach still wonders about how much of chance it really was. "I wrestle with this all the time of whether we're products of our environment,” Zach said.
Some Universal Force?
It was a fair question. Was their love the result of "just two Jews from Philadelphia that find each other because we both moved to New York and had mutual friends, or is it some universal force that brought us together at this moment in time?" Zach asked.
Blend of Both
"And I'd like to think at least it's a blend of both. I think that there's a reason that we met at this specific moment,” Zach said. “Had we met at any other moment, really come together at any other moment, I can't imagine it going the way that it did."
Meant to Be
Alex agrees with Zach’s take. "In Hebrew, it's called 'Bashert', it's like meant to be,” Alex said. “And I like to think that's what we are, and we got, I don't know, just really lucky. Fated." Destiny has a way of bringing couples together, and it's not unusual for soul mates to find stunning connections from their pasts.
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