These Two Were Lovebirds In Kindergarten, But 20 Years Later The Unimaginable Happened

The odds may have been stacked against Matt Grodsky and Laura Scheel even meeting each other in the first place. Scheel had been born in New Delhi, India, after all, while Grodsky had spent some of his formative years in Phoenix, Arizona. After two U.S. government employees adopted Scheel, however, they brought her to the U.S. and enrolled her in the very same preschool that Grodsky’s mom and dad had chosen for their son.

And puppy love would blossom for Grodsky, as it turns out. He began following Scheel everywhere, in fact, and tried to impress her whenever he could. Scheel, for her part, grew fond of Grodsky’s goofy persona, and the pair subsequently became close. But would their charming bond last?

Well, sadly, when the time came for Grodsky and Scheel to graduate to elementary school, the two kids ended up at separate institutions. And after that, the pair lost touch – marking the end, perhaps, of their budding romance. Yet nearly two decades after that first meeting, fate played one final trick on the preschool sweethearts.

Grodsky and Scheel had first encountered each other as toddlers at their preschool in Phoenix, Arizona. And while the duo were obviously both young at the time, Scheel made quite the impression on Grodsky. “I don’t remember the first time I saw her. But she was always a girl who let me follow her around,” he revealed to Today in 2017.

Even as a three-year-old, Grodsky was eager to get Scheel’s attention. And he attempted to do so by displaying his knowledge of one of the 1990s’ most popular Disney films. “I’d always try to impress her by reciting lines from movies like The Lion King and stuff like that,” he added.

By way of explanation, in 2017 Grodsky told HuffPost, “The Lion King was what all the kids were into back then. So, we would spend most of our time reciting lines from the movie on the playground.” And reenacting a popular kids’ film of the day wasn’t the only way in which Grodsky tried to influence Scheel.

Grodsky was so intent on being noticed by his intended, in fact, that he once put on a display of strength. “I remember trying to impress [Scheel] during a Cinco De Mayo celebration at the preschool where we were trying to break open a piñata. Fortunately, I was the kid who managed to do it, and I assume it got her attention,” he told HuffPost.

In any case, the eager youngster did register on Scheel’s radar, although she later told HuffPost that she considered Grodsky a “goofball.” And the pair soon became firm friends. “We did almost everything together,” Scheel added. “We would just have a blast together.”

But Grodsky and Scheel didn’t only hang out during preschool hours. Yes, the duo enjoyed play dates, too, while their respective parents would also accompany their kids on visits to watch movies. It seemed, then, that the two children were practically best buds.

Yet as far as Grodsky was concerned, the feelings he had for Scheel went far beyond the platonic. And as a small child, he wasn’t afraid to make his affections known, either. “When you like someone, you just kind of stand up and say it,” he told Today. So that’s what he decided to do.

That’s right: Grodsky professed his affection for Scheel in front of their preschool class. But upon hearing that declaration, the group of three- and four-year-olds began giggling. Grodsky remained undeterred, however. “Just you wait,” he had replied, as he later revealed to Today.

Yes, Grodsky had been so confident that he and Scheel were meant to be together that he had told his classmates. He even proposed to Scheel at the tender age of five. “I said, ‘Hey, we’ve got a good thing going… we should get married,’” an older Grodsky explained to Inside Edition in 2017.

But Scheel was not forthcoming in accepting Grodsky’s suggestion. “Sensible me said, ‘We should probably wait. We’re still a little young,’” she told Inside Edition. “I took her advice on that,” Grodsky added. After the pair both went on to separate elementary schools, though, it looked increasingly unlikely that they would ever wed.

You see, Grodsky and Scheel eventually fell out of contact with each other, with the only link between the duo becoming the yearly Christmas cards that their two families would swap. It appeared, then, that the lives of the former preschool buddies were heading in entirely different directions.

Yet the stars would seemingly align once again for Grodsky and Scheel. In the fall of her freshman year at high school, Scheel was browsing a friend’s phone when she noticed that the device contained Grodsky’s contact details. Intriguingly, it turned out that Scheel’s pal had been a classmate of Grodsky in middle school.

And when Scheel told her friend about the special bond that she’d shared with Grodsky in preschool, she offered to reunite the pair. Scheel wasn’t convinced about the prospect of meeting up with her erstwhile BFF, though. “I was a freshman in high school, so I was like, ‘I don’t think so!’” she later revealed to Today.

Expanding on her reservations, Scheel confessed to HuffPost, “I was hesitant to go out with [Grodsky].” However, it seems that she needn’t have worried about reaching out to her former friend, as the pair simply picked their relationship up where they left off. “He texted me, and we hit it off,” Scheel added.

In less than a month, Scheel and Grodsky were an item, in fact. And even though the two went to different high schools, they remained girlfriend and boyfriend for four years. When the time came for both to head out to college, though, Grodsky and Scheel’s relationship faced a big test. You see, the pair weren’t only enrolled at entirely different schools, but the universities that they had chosen weren’t even in the same state.

And, understandably, the young couple put some real thought into whether they should maintain their romance. “Right after we graduated from high school, we were pretty hesitant. We were like, ‘Do we stay together? Do we try to make it work?’” Scheel explained to Today.

In the end, the pair decided to keep dating despite the distance between them; while Scheel was at Northern Arizona University, Grodsky was 1,600 miles away at Columbia College Chicago. And although the two struggled to adjust to their new circumstances at first, they eventually got into the swing of being apart.

Grodsky and Scheel kept their romance alive by arranging visits to each other every so often. And when they couldn’t be together, they’d watch Friends on Netflix at the same time. In the end, then, they managed to keep some kind of routine to their relationship – even if they were at different ends of the country.

And thanks to these efforts, Grodsky and Scheel were still a couple when they each completed junior year at their respective colleges. Shortly afterwards, though, Grodsky decided that it was finally time to make good on his old preschool promise. Yes, yet again he was going to ask Scheel to be his wife – and he knew the ideal venue at which to get down on one knee, too.

In the meantime, Grodsky put work into ensuring that his proposal was nothing short of perfect, picking out a ring two months before he planned to pop the question. In a nod to tradition, he also asked Scheel’s dad for his daughter’s hand in marriage – a request to which his prospective father-in-law agreed.

So, in May 2015, Grodsky took Scheel back to the place where it all began: their preschool in Phoenix. At the time, though, Scheel initially believed that they’d returned to the location to share a picnic in celebration of completing another year at college.

And when recalling the day of the proposal to HuffPost, Grodsky hinted that he’d been extremely nervous beforehand. He said, “[During] the whole car ride to the preschool, [Scheel] kept asking me why I seemed anxious. I kept checking my pocket when she wasn’t looking to make sure the ring was still there.”

But it seems that Grodsky had everything under control. He’d even arranged a photographer to capture the moment. “I dropped down on one knee while my brother came in with the phone, snapping photos,” he told HuffPost. “Laura was shocked. I gave her my pitch on why I wanted her to marry me, and she said yes – whew!”

Revealing her reaction to Grodsky’s shock proposal to Today, Scheel said that she’d been stunned. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, is this happening?’” she recalled. But despite the momentous surprise, Scheel’s overriding emotion was that of joy. “I saw the ring and was like, ‘This is gorgeous. I’m so happy with it,’” she said.

Yet Grodsky had another surprise in store for his bride-to-be. When his brother delivered the happy couple their picnic, the spread wasn’t in just any old basket; instead, it was the same receptacle that Grodsky’s father had been using when he had popped the question to Grodsky’s mom.

And when Grodsky and Scheel finally tied the knot in December 2016, the groom finally fulfilled his dream to make Scheel his wife – two decades after he had first proposed to the bride. The couple kept it in the family, too, by inviting Grodsky’s uncle to officiate the occasion.

What’s more, the groom’s relative would sum up his nephew’s fairytale romance with Scheel. “For most kids in preschool, it’s about finding your snacks and your sleeping mats. But for them, it was about finding their soulmates,” Today quoted him as saying. Yet this was by far the end of the newlyweds’ story.

Indeed, it seems that Grodsky and Scheel’s tale was too good to keep to themselves. In June 2017, you see, Grodsky shared details of his epic romance with Instagram page The Way We Met. According to the bio section of the page, the account shares “the best love stories on the internet.”

And in his heartwarming submission, Grodsky retold his relationship with Scheel from the beginning. “Laura and I met in preschool. One of my very first memories is of being three years old and standing up in front of my preschool class, declaring that I would marry her someday,” he wrote.

Grodsky continued, “As kids, Laura taught me how to ride the swings, draw rolling hills and the ‘right way’ to properly eat string cheese. We have fond memories of playing hide-and-go-seek, chasing after each other on the playground and mischievously staying up during nap time.” He then told the internet what he’d known for more than two decades.

Yes, even while young, Grodsky had been in no doubt that his feelings for Scheel were real. “I was enamored with Laura as a child, and I still am to this day,” he said. He revealed, too, that fate had seemingly found a way to bring him and his wife back together even after the duo had first parted ways.

In his The Way We Met post, Grodsky explained, “Eventually, [Scheel and I] lost touch upon entering our elementary school days. And for the next seven years, our family’s annual Christmas cards were the only way we ever saw each other’s faces. It wasn’t until high school that we reconnected by happenstance through a mutual friend.”

Revealing how his romance with Scheel had blossomed, Grodsky continued, “Within two weeks, we decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend. We continued to date throughout all of high school – even though we went to different schools. We even stuck together long-distance while attending colleges in different states.”

Concluding his sentimental post, Grodsky brought the page’s followers right up to date with their relationship. “We remained a resilient couple until May 23, 2015, when I decided to stay true to my preschool pledge and make Laura my wife,” he wrote. “I proposed to her at the place it all began: our preschool classroom.”

Perhaps inevitably, Grodsky and Scheel’s love story went viral, with the Instagram post eventually clocking up more than 30,000 likes. And that’s certainly not the only space they’ve made for themselves on social media. You see, the pair have their own joint account on Facebook under the name “preschoolsweethearts.”

The couple’s Facebook page has garnered its fair share of fans, too, with more than 4,600 followers to date. And there, Grodsky and Scheel use the account to share updates from their continuing love story. In January 2019, for example, the pair posted a snap that shows them commemorating their second wedding anniversary.

Yet while Grodsky and Scheel’s marriage may still only be young, it was nevertheless two decades in the making. And with any luck, the pair will have many more happy years ahead of them. After all, they’ve already proved that their love was built to withstand the test of time.