An 18-year-old was heartbroken thinking her mother would never be able to meet her boyfriend as she passed away when she was just 7. What she didn’t know was the fact that they had already met each other years earlier.
When Leah Menzies met her boyfriend Thomas McLeodd’s family for the first time, his mother did exactly what many moms do: Shared embarrassing stories. “His mum was telling me how he made this stupid face in a school picture. She thought it was funny,” said Menzies according to TODAY.
Menzies’ 18-year-old partner was not embarrassed by it in the least. And when his mom brought it up, he went off to get it from a bookshelf. “He opens this album and then suddenly, he’s like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God — over and over again. I couldn’t figure out why he was being so dramatic,” recalled Menzies, a college student in Australia.
McLeodd couldn’t believe he was looking at a photo of himself and Menzies late mother. Coincidentally, she had been his preschool teacher and McLeodd recognized her from the pictures that his girlfriend of seven months keeps in her room.
When Menzies saw the photograph she burst into tears. “It’s incredible that she knew him,” she said of her mom who died from liver failure. “What gets me is that she was standing with my future boyfriend and she had no idea.” Of course, McLeodd didn’t recall memories of his teacher as he was just 3 when they met.
However, McLeodd’s mother remembers her distinctly for being “kind and really gentle.” This was something Menzies just had to share on TikTok and the touching story had since gone viral gaining over 36 million views, according to PEOPLE. “Found out through this photo in his photo album,” read the caption of the clip.
Menzies then went on to regard the revelation as “a moment straight out of a movie.” Posting a follow-up video, Menzies clarified that she met her boyfriend in high school but they only started dating seven months back. Even then they were not aware of any “family connection.”
As it turns out she “didn’t actually know that my mum taught at kindergarten” until she saw the throwback photograph. “I just knew she was a teacher.” As for her partner, “he was speechless” and it was a pleasant surprise for both parties.
