Fate – do you believe in it? Are some things simply meant to be or do you think the idea of having everything already laid out for you is a bit, well, stupid? We’re asking because an English couple who split up 20 years ago, have just gotten married after a chance meeting in a bakery.
Claire Woodward hadn’t laid eyes on her former boyfriend, Gary Statham, since they broke up all the way back in 1990. That is until her boss sent her to work in a different shop for a day.
Claire, who works in a bakery, is normally based at one branch of the chain store. However, on the day in question, her boss asked her to cover holiday leave at another shop. Unbeknownst to Claire, this bakery just happened to be in the same town where Gary worked as an estate agent.
At lunchtime, Gary just happened to walk into the shop to get something for his lunch and he immediately recognised his former girlfriend.
The chance meeting caused the couple to fall in love all over again, and they recently tied the knot.
“It really was a one-in-a-million chance of bumping into each other. I was literally only working in that shop for one day. If I’d not been sent to the Sutton branch we might never have met again. I think fate definitely played a hand in getting us back together,” said Claire, speaking to the Daily Mail.
“I recognised Gary’s voice before I actually saw him and I couldn’t believe it was him. We went out for about a year, but I was a few years younger than Gary and eventually we just drifted apart and lost contact. My mum was really, really happy when we got back together because she’d always liked Gary and even though 20 years had passed she compared all my other boyfriends to him,” she added.
The couple were reunited after a 20 year gap and are now happily married.
During the couple’s 20 years apart, Gary had married and divorced, although when Claire met him in the bakery, she assumed he was married.
When she told a friend about the meeting, she was informed that Gary was single again. Claire dropped a latter off at Gary’s place of work asking him out on a date. A year later the couple moved in together and then got married.
“When I saw her that day in Birds [bakery] I honestly didn’t think she looked that different – she’s always been beautiful to me. I definitely got more than a filled cob that day – I ended up with a wife,” said Gary.
Aw. What do you think ladies? Did fate bring you together with your other half?
