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Soon-to-be bride Heather Campbell, 23, proudly displays the diamond engagement ring that glitters on her left hand. But the scuffed, plastic, dinosaur-themed ring on her right hand is the one with the interesting story behind it.
That's the ring Campbell's fiance, Greg Arpin, also 23, proposed to her with on the Davis-Thayer Elementary School playground - when they were in first grade.
Despite more than a decade apart, it's the ring Campbell kept until fate brought the two together again.
"We developed a little kid crush," Arpin said of when the two were in first grade. "I saved my money, pinched my pennies ... and bought her this ring."
The ring is bright blue and child-sized, with a miniature, purple Tyrannosaurus Rex pictured on the flat top. The paper is torn in a couple of places, testament to the yearlong engagement the couple had in elementary school.
After a year of playdates, birthday parties, Halloween trick-or-treating, and the memorable event when Campbell signed Arpin's yearbook, complete with her phone number, Campbell was transferred to a different elementary school in Franklin, away from Arpin.
The pseudo-engagement broke off, and in fifth grade, Campbell's family moved to New York state.
The young couple didn't speak again for 14 years, but, as fate would have it, the relationship wasn't to end.
"There's an argument between the parents as to who saw who first," laughs Campbell of when she came back to Franklin to attend Dean College.
She gave Arpin's parents her email address, and Arpin sent her an email. If the subject of his childhood romance appearing in his hometown again was a pleasant surprise, he was outright stunned when she showed him the beat-up plastic ring.
"I was just blown away," Arpin said. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't even think she remembered me."
Campbell had taken off her dinosaur ring after first grade but stowed it in a jewelry box under her bed for safekeeping.
The two began dating again, and Arpin soon proposed a second time, with diamonds instead of dinosaurs - but still on a playground.
"He proposed on a playground down the street," said Campbell, recalling the bright lights Arpin had strung through the trees asking her to marry him.
The two will be married tomorrow on Cape Cod.
Alison McCall can be reached at 508-634-7521 or amccall@wickedlocal.com.
2 comments:
What a wonderful story thanks for sharing it. It just goes to prove that real love endures.
That was very touching. I hope they have a wonderful life together if not they have a great story!
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