The chances of it happening were slim, but happen it did.
It was 1985 when Sue and Bob Kreiser, of Penfield started the paperwork to adopt a child from Seoul, South Korea. In July of 1986 they became the proud parents of a baby girl who they named Jessica.
One month later, Claire and Rocky Kaler, also of Penfield, welcomed a new baby boy named Aaron into their home.
Both children were matched with families through an organization called Love the Children. Unbeknownst to the two sets of parents, the children would grow up and fall in love.
Jessica and Aaron, who are now 26 years old, were married on Saturday, Aug. 18.
“We couldn't plan this if we tried,” said the mother of the bride. “We didn't make this happen, but the fact that it is happening is an amazing thing.”
Finding their match
Although they grew up in the same town, the two didn’t cross paths until their teens. They went to separate elementary schools and later went to Bay Trail Middle School, but they didn’t meet until they were 15.
Then one day at the old Rinky Dink mini golf course on Panorama Trail, they were introduced through a group of mutual friends.
Before long, they became friends. Aaron played drums in a band, and Jessica remembers going to his gigs with her girlfriends.
They started dating during their sophomore year at Penfield High School and, thanks to their alphabetical last names, sat next to each other in math class.
“We used to flirt all class long,” said Jessica. “Our teacher had to separate us across the room because we talked too much during class. Then we used to write in our note pads and hold them up to each other instead of talking,” she recalled, with a laugh. “Our teacher hated us.”
They were high school sweethearts for one year and went to the junior prom together. It looked like their romance might end for good when they went their separate ways in college in 2004. She went to St. John Fisher to study accounting and he majored in psychology at SUNY Albany. But they started to date on and off again in college until Aaron finally popped the question last year.
A new home
Rochester has the second highest number of children adopted from South Korea in the whole country, according to Marty Cardona, a caseworker who has been heavily involved with Love the Children since 1976.
The chances of it happening were slim, but happen it did.
It was 1985 when Sue and Bob Kreiser, of Penfield started the paperwork to adopt a child from Seoul, South Korea. In July of 1986 they became the proud parents of a baby girl who they named Jessica.
One month later, Claire and Rocky Kaler, also of Penfield, welcomed a new baby boy named Aaron into their home.
Both children were matched with families through an organization called Love the Children. Unbeknownst to the two sets of parents, the children would grow up and fall in love.
Jessica and Aaron, who are now 26 years old, were married on Saturday, Aug. 18.
“We couldn't plan this if we tried,” said the mother of the bride. “We didn't make this happen, but the fact that it is happening is an amazing thing.”
Finding their match
Although they grew up in the same town, the two didn’t cross paths until their teens. They went to separate elementary schools and later went to Bay Trail Middle School, but they didn’t meet until they were 15.
Then one day at the old Rinky Dink mini golf course on Panorama Trail, they were introduced through a group of mutual friends.
Before long, they became friends. Aaron played drums in a band, and Jessica remembers going to his gigs with her girlfriends.
They started dating during their sophomore year at Penfield High School and, thanks to their alphabetical last names, sat next to each other in math class.
“We used to flirt all class long,” said Jessica. “Our teacher had to separate us across the room because we talked too much during class. Then we used to write in our note pads and hold them up to each other instead of talking,” she recalled, with a laugh. “Our teacher hated us.”
They were high school sweethearts for one year and went to the junior prom together. It looked like their romance might end for good when they went their separate ways in college in 2004. She went to St. John Fisher to study accounting and he majored in psychology at SUNY Albany. But they started to date on and off again in college until Aaron finally popped the question last year.
A new home
Rochester has the second highest number of children adopted from South Korea in the whole country, according to Marty Cardona, a caseworker who has been heavily involved with Love the Children since 1976.
She said this is largely due to the region’s affluence and level of cultural acceptance. Cardona has helped place thousands of children with area families, including the Kreisers and Kalers.
When she learned about the engagement, she was both surprised and delighted.
“It’s quite magical,” Cardona said. “I’ve placed over 2,500 children over the years, so the chance that two of them would meet, fall in love and get married are not very great,” she said with a chuckle.
Their parents still remember picking up their babies at the airport, where they were given wristbands and a small packet of basic information about the child and its birth parents. Both families have also adopted other children.
Aaron and Jessica have never returned to their homeland, but plan to make the trip together in the future. Although they treasure their common heritage, they say the U.S. will always be their home. They bought a house in Penfield and plan to start their lives as a married couple in their hometown.
As his mother said, “These kids are as American as apple pie, and they just happen to be from another country.”
Although the circumstances of their meeting are unique, the pair simply sees their relationship as two people who met and fell in love. They grew up in different homes and had many of the same experiences.
The adoption part is just one thing they have in common.
“We have so many things that we can connect on,” said Jessica. “Being from the same place, we can go and visit, and we’ll both appreciate it a lot more than if it was (with) somebody who hadn’t had that history.... We have memories with each other that other people don’t have.”
