A couple of Florida newlyweds are vowing to remain married despite a startling revelation that the groom is actually the bride’s grandfather.
Yes … this actually happened.
The pair made the discovery three months after tying the knot while browsing through a photo album and seeing a shocking image.
The groom’s estranged son, they realized, was also the bride’s father. We imagine a slightly awkward exchange followed this revelation.
The man, who did not wish to be identified, proposed to his granddaughter on New Year’s Eve after they met via an online dating website.
Apparently, the 68-year-old groom became estranged from the children in his first marriage, which would explain at least part of this.
His second marriage also ended in divorce when he won “several million dollars” in the lottery, and he recently started dating again.
The Miami-based retiree signed up for online dating seeking some companionship and soon met a beautiful 24-year-old from Jacksonville.
She said she had been kicked out of her family home.
A single mom working as an exotic dancer to pay the bills – something she’s not proud of, she says – she quickly fell for her new suitor.
They married earlier this year, and were blissfully happy.
At least until that fateful look at his old family photos turned up the stunning reveal that seems almost impossible to believe.
Eat your heart out and try to top that, Ancestry.com.
The man later told the Florida Sun Post: “It was like a sense of deja vu, but at the time I couldn’t figure out why she seemed so familiar.”
It’s okay. We’ve all been there. Okay, no we haven’t.
The bride described the horror of that day: “When I saw my father in that photo album, I just felt an overwhelming sense of despair.”
It hit her partner hard, as well. Her husband recalled that "I just felt so bad for her because I know how she must have been feeling."
(It’s not clear how her father, who is also his son, and is evidently estranged from both, feels about this or if he even realizes it happened.)
In any case, the pair say they have no plans to divorce.
That may sound shocking, obviously, but he explains it simply. He fell for her and loves her for who she is, he says, and divorce sucks.
He told the newspaper that he really wants it to work out: “I’ve already had two failed marriages, and I’m determined not to have a third.”
“If we’d never have found out," he adds, "we would’ve lived our lives happily together, and us being related shouldn’t change that.”
His bride added in support of that idealistic notion:
“Every couple is different and special in their own ways. I feel our bond is so strong that even something like this is not enough to make us give up.”
True love.