Heidi and Parker Armbruster, both 53, hadn’t seen each other for three decades when they ran into each other at a high school reunion last year.
‘I can’t believe how beautiful she looked, and I was just extremely excited to have the chance to talk to her,’ said Parker.
‘We ran into each other, and it was like we were in eighth grade again.’
The pair, from Quincy, Illinois, first met at a party thrown by the swim club they attended in the summer of 1984 in the eighth and ninth grades.
The 14-year-olds became a couple and fell in love, doing absolutely everything together.
But they became distant when they went to different universities, eventually only meeting a few times a year in their 20s.
Fast-forward 30 years, and seeing each other at the reunion rekindled the flame they had for each other.
‘Even though we hadn’t seen each other for 30 years, we just immediately felt comfortable with each other,’ said Heidi.
‘It was just kind of easy to connect.’
Parker drove Heidi home and, following the reunion, the pair went on a couple of dates. Soon enough they were seeing each other every day.
Not long after, Heidi’s father became very ill and Parker asked her dad for his daughter’s hand in marriage, but sadly he passed away in January before their wedding in May this year.
‘On my wedding day, I went through such a mixed bag of emotions, especially as we got married in the same church as where my dad’s funeral took place,’ Heidi said.
‘We were so blessed that my dad had given Parker his blessing, and we missed him, but it was just a joyful day.’
Heidi’s daughter, Avery, 23, said: ‘The wedding day was perfect – it couldn’t have gone any better.
‘It meant a lot to us knowing that it’s what my grandpa would have wanted. He loved Parker.’
Heidi and Parker honeymooned in Maui, Hawaii, where they went snorkelling, went on a road trip and relaxed on the beach.
‘We have a few things planned for the future,’ Heidi said.
‘We are going to a concert in Wisconsin in September.
‘There’s also a place in South Carolina that I take my kids to and my whole family has been going to since 2011.
‘So now we’re planning our first trip back there as a married couple.’
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