These soulmates found each other by way of their third grade class photo
Ready for a big ol’ helping of cuteness on this lovely Sunday? Of course you are.
Christy and Ed Hemmes have been married since December 2013. . . but the very beginnings of their history can be traced way before that. Almost 30 years ago, specifically, when Ed had a major crush on Christy (maiden name Young) in third grade at Ironia Elementary School in Randolph, New Jersey. That was back in 1986, when they were in Miss McAlister’s class together and rode the same school bus. Ed admired his dimpled classmate from afar, explaining to People, “I’m sure she knew I existed, but I don’t know if she ‘loved me’ back. Of course, love is a different thing when you’re eight vs. when you’re 38.”
Alas, Christy did know about his existence, but that was about it. “I remember riding the bus with him, but we never really spoke and I hadn’t thought about him since,” she told Today.
Sadly, Christy moved away to the town over, and they lost track of each other for the next twenty years. . . until their former classmate, Eileen, posted their class pic on Facebook. Both Ed and Christy were tagged, and Ed, now in his thirties, wasn’t totally sure how Facebook worked. He commented saying “Christy Young (loved her),” before realizing that Christy could see his comment. Whoops!
“Facebook was still kind of new at that time,” Ed told People. “I understood it then about as much as I understand it now. I thought my comment was just going to be seen by the person who posted the picture. I thought there was no way Christy would see it, read it, let alone respond to it.” That would have been mortifying in third grade obvs, but he commented again apologizing, saying that he’s embarrassed for “proclaiming his love.”
Luckily, Christy was totally cool about it, saying that she’s “flattered to have an admirer.” Is that some flirting we sense? Turns out, yes — because that was only the start of something huge. “We exchanged Facebook messages for a while,” Ed explained to People. “Eventually we planned a date.”
“We talked for a long time that way before he asked me out,” Christy told People. “I did give him a little grief for taking so long to ask.” That noise you heard? Yeah, that was our hearts bursting.
They ended up going out on a date a few days after Valentine’s Day in 2010, where they “just clicked,” Christy explained. Ed agreed with that assessment. “We immediately hit it off and found out we had similar interests,” Ed told Today. “She lived up to everything I thought she’d be from what I remember about her as a young girl.”
The pair kept on texting, and dated for two years. . . until Ed popped the question. And yes, if you were wondering, he proposed at the same elementary school where he made eyes at his future wife decades ago. “What I planned to say versus what actually came out of my mouth are probably very different, but the point was ‘Sometimes one door closes and another door opens, and sometimes the door is just locked, but being here at the doors we both walked through so many times so many years ago seems like a great time to begin a new journey through a new door,’” Ed told People. “There is a rumor that when you ring the door bell at the school, it starts recording what’s happening. It’s possible [the proposal] is all on video, but we never asked.”
From there, the rest is history. The couple had a little girl named Emily Grace, now 16 months old. “You just never know,” Christy told People. “Take the chance and say ‘hello.’ It could lead to happily ever after, or at least that’s what we are working on.”
No, I’m not crying, YOU’RE crying. Thanks, Christy and Ed, for sharing such a wonderful story, and proving something beautiful: love will always find a way.
(Images via Twitter.)
