Kate Latkovic is proving that sometimes love plays out just like it does in the movies.
Recently, the 25-year-old shared the story of how her parents, Tom and Kim, met, and it had such Before Sunrise vibes that you almost wonder whether Richard Linklater found inspiration for his 1995 romantic film in their story somehow.
A chance encounter nearly cut short
Just as the movie portrays traveling strangers Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) forging an instant connection in Vienna, Tom and Kim shared a similarly fateful meet-cute one night while backpacking separately through Europe.
The problem: They woke up the next day with no way to contact each other (it was the mid-’90s, after all), and they were each headed to different cities.
A bold plan that paid off big time
However, Tom wasn’t ready to give up. To give himself the best chance of being seen, he sought out a street performer in the most densely populated area he could find and offered to volunteer.
Miraculously, the plan worked. Kim found him, and they spent the rest of their trip traveling together.
As Latkovic recalls in her post, during that time, Tom confessed to Kim that he could see her “old and gray,” surrounded by their “kids and grandkids.” Rather than being alarmed, Kim said she felt the same way.
Someone else saw what was unfolding and created an unexpected keepsake
To add another feel-good twist to the story, one of Tom’s friends had also been on the trip and witnessed their budding romance. In his journal, the friend wrote that even he sensed they were meant for each other, adding, “Ten bucks Tom marries her.”
Six months after the trip, Tom and Kim got engaged. They’ve been happily married for 27 years, and that journal entry is immortalized in a frame in their home.
The pictures speak for themselves
Latkovic shared their story, along with a series of photos: the first few from their Europe trip, and the rest of Tom and Kim throughout the years. It’s hard to deny that the sweet glow of love has not only stayed with them all this time but has grown, too.
To say that people were moved by this might be an understatement. In the comments, everyone seemed to agree that it had all the makings of a winning romance film:
“WHAT IN THE ROMCOM 😩😭”
“We need a movie ASAP😭😭😭”
“This is literally a movie.”
At the end of her post, Latkovic shared that throughout her childhood, she watched each of her parents “pour love into one another, partner together, invest in each other, and ultimately choose each other every single day through highs and lows.”
Fate might have played a big part in their relationship, but their daily devotion is undoubtedly what kept the magic alive. Either way, just as Latkovic promised, these two provide “living proof” that “true love stories exist.”
