When one New York City couple swiped right on each other on a dating app in 2015, they had no idea that two and a half decades earlier they were also probably swiping crayons from each other.
Alex Goldstein and Sam Mindlin, who are both 28 and live in Brooklyn, thought they were meeting for the first time after matching on a dating app. But as they discussed their upbringings on their first date, they realized that they grew up in the same neighborhood.
After speaking to their mothers, they discovered they actually went to the very same pre-school, too, and even sat next to each other in the class photo on picture day. Now, nearly 27 years later, they are engaged to be married.
Talk about destiny! Alex Goldstein (left) and Sam Mindlin (right) went on a first date after matching on a dating app, but soon realized that it was actually not the first time they’d met
Future man and wife: The 28-year-olds realized that, as kids, they went to the same pre-school, and later found this old picture in which they are sitting side-by-side
Alex shared her story with The Way We Met on November 15 in what is now one of the account’s most-liked posts.
She said that the two met on the app, and were getting through the usual small talk on their first date when they made a surprising discovery.
‘We were talking about our childhoods and realized we grew up a mere two blocks away from each other,’ she said.
Alex was excited, and asked Sam where he went to pre-school. He had to check with his mother, but they soon found out that they attended the same one.
Not long after that, they were able to confirm without a doubt that they had definitely known each other as little kids.
‘A few months later, my sister was looking through old photos when she found one of me and Sam at age two, standing right next to each other in our class photo.’
What a small world! They also lived just two blocks away from each other as little kids but did not remember one another
They do! Now, two years after re-meeting, the couple, who are based in Brooklyn are engaged to be married
All grown up! They are planning to get married nearly 27 years after they first posed together for a class picture
Sure enough, in the photo the two tots can be seen sitting in the bottom row of the class shot.
Alex is in a floral early ’90s dress, a white headband holding back her blonde hair and her hands in her lap. Sam is sitting next to her in cargo pants and a red and white shirt.
‘If only those babies had known they would fall madly in love 25 years later,’ Alex added romantically.
Nearly two years after meeting — for the second time — the pair got engaged this summer.
Instagrammer commenters have been charmed by the sweet story, which included side-by-side shots of the couple then and now.
‘You never know where life might take you,’ wrote one. ‘What’s meant to be always finds a way,’ said another.
‘That is just gorgeous, what a heart warming story,’ added a third. ‘Fate is a wonderful thing.’