Married Couple Met In Preschool, But Didn't Know It Until Now

PHILADELPHIA, PA — As Valentine's Day approaches, there's one love story that goes back much further than even the people involved knew.

Alex Olsman and Zachary Frankel are newlyweds, having tied the knot during a small ceremony in December and planning to have a larger celebration when the coronavirus crisis subsides.

The two met on a blind date as adults, an encounter set up by a mutual friend. From there, they learned they both grew up in the Center City area of Philadelphia near Rittenhouse Square and knew some of the same people growing up.

But it wasn't until after they were engaged that the now-married couple found out they met in preschool. Olsman and Frankel were pictured next to each other in a preschool photo at Greene Town Montessori School in the 1993-94 school year.

It was Olsman's mom who came across the photo while cleaning out the house in preparation for a move, a recent episode of the television show "People" highlights.

"We did put together that we were in the same preschool class ... but I couldn't place Zach," Olsman said on the show. "I don't remember meeting as children or being in the same room, although I'm sure that we were."

Olsman said she got "a little emotional" seeing the old photo.

"You read about stuff like this, but to have it happen to you, we never expected that because we were set up blindly," she said.

After more digging, the couple learned they were also in the same museum art class as children.

Even as they had crossed paths many years ago, Olsman and Frankel both said it was their first meeting as adults that was meant to be.

"I wrestle with this all the time of whether we're products of our environment and this is just two Jews from Philadelphia that find each other because we both moved to New York and had mutual friends, or is it some universal force that brought us together at this moment in time?" Frankel told People.

"And I'd like to think at least it's a blend of both. I think that there's a reason that we met at this specific moment. Had we met at any other moment, really come together at any other moment, I can't imagine it going the way that it did."

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