Barrow couple reunited through Facebook set to marry
Last updated at 16:57, Tuesday, 04 September 2012
THEIR love story has the makings of a Hollywood rom com.
Jill Hammond and Mike Burrows were teenage sweethearts in the 1980s and more than two decades later, after being reunited through Facebook, will finally get their happily-ever-after ending when they tie the knot this Friday.
The bride-to-be, 39, and her betrothed, 41, first met at St Matthew’s Church youth club in Barrow, and they started going out in 1987 when they were 14 and 15.
Miss Hammond said: “I fancied him for about a year and we got together at someone’s party. We went out for about two years and had a great time.”
However, the relationship ended when Mr Burrows went to university. They both went on to get married and later divorced, and each has a daughter.
Over the next 20 years they bumped into each other about three times. Then in August 2010, they were reunited.
Miss Hammond said: “It’s my sister Jo’s fault. She noticed that Mike’s status on Facebook was ‘single’. She shouted ‘Mike Burrows is single, should I set you up on a date?’. Then she said, ‘too late I’ve already sent him a message’.”
Her fiance added: “It felt a bit bizarre at first, but within a few days we had caught up.”
Then on a birthday trip to Amsterdam for Mr Burrows’ 40th birthday, he proposed with a ring he had first given his beloved more than 20 years earlier – which was later replaced by a diamond engagement ring.
Mr Burrows said: “We were on a canal cruise and I got down on one knee and proposed in front of a load of tourists with a friendship ring that I’d bought Jill for her 16th birthday which she’d kept.”
The couple, who live in Norfolk Street, Barrow, will tie the knot at the Nan Tait Centre with their daughters – Jessica Wheeler, 11, and Emily Burrows, 13, as bridesmaids.
Mr Burrows said: “I’m over the moon, she’s my soul mate, my best friend. She’s definitely my first love.”
Miss Hammond added: “It’s amazing. He’s my best mate, my first love and I still fancy him.
“People can’t believe it, at work they think it’s like a saga from EastEnders.”
The wedding reception at Clarence House is set to feature 80s music, and possibly some Salt-n-Pepa dancing. Some of the invited guests include old friends from the youth club where the couple first met.
First published at 16:16, Tuesday, 04 September 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk
Despite impressions given in the photo I have never advertised for Tefal :) My forehead is nowhere near that size!
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Congratulations, all the best Jon XX
Posted by Jon on 6 September 2012 at 08:12