He found an old photo of his girlfriend—and something about it stopped him cold

While going through their belongings, a boyfriend stumbled upon something he never expected—a preschool photo that made him believe in fate. The discovery came from a user known as @evanaka1234 on Imgur, who shared the moment with a series of images documenting an incredible twist in his love life.

Representative Image Source: Pexels | Yan Krukau

One image showed a group of eight young kids with two adults, and it was found while he and his girlfriend were searching for a rice cooker. “While searching for a rice cooker my girlfriend, I came across this picture from her preschool,” he wrote beneath the image.

Seeing the photo, he couldn’t help but burst out laughing. “I started busting out laughing because I recognized her instantly. Some say she wasn't quite human,” he joked, referring to the distinct grin his girlfriend wore in the photo. But as he looked closer, something else jumped out at him—another face that felt oddly familiar.

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Time seemed to pause for a moment as he studied the image. Sitting beside his girlfriend in the photo was a blonde boy, and a few seconds later, it hit him—he recognized that little boy because it was him.

Confirmation came after a quick call to his mother. “I freaked out and called my mom. What else would you do in a situation like that and sure enough she confirmed that it was me,” he explained. They were only 3 years old at the time and had somehow unknowingly shared a preschool classroom.

Happy coupleRepresentative Image Source: Pexels | Andre Furtado

Today, their story has a photo to match—a sweet picture of the now-grown couple, roughly 16 years later, beaming together. “Mildly interesting to say the least. This is us today approximately 16 years later,” he wrote, summing up the uncanny way life brought them full circle.

A similarly remarkable story comes from China, where a married couple discovered they had unknowingly crossed paths long before they met. According to NBC affiliate KSDK, the couple—identified as Mr. and Mrs. Ye—each appeared in the other’s photo taken at May Fourth Square in Qingdao back in 2000, though they were complete strangers at the time.

Neither of them had any clue the other existed that day. The woman was having her picture taken while Mr. Ye unknowingly stood in the background, caught on camera.

Tourist taking a pictureRepresentative Image Source: Pexels| Sabel Blanco

Mr. Ye wasn’t aware he had photobombed what would become a snapshot of destiny. Years later, while flipping through his wife’s old photos, he noticed himself standing in the background of one. He was even wearing the same clothes as in his own picture from that day.

Eventually, their paths officially aligned in 2011. The two married and later welcomed twin daughters—proof that life has a way of bringing the right people together, often long before we even know it.