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Man finds himself playing piano duets with a mystery neighbor. An atypical love story begins.

At first, it seemed like the perfect romantic meet-cute, but turned out to be something far more meaningful.

Photo credit: Canva

Man's through-the-wall piano duet with a mystery neighbor became a beautiful love story.

Sometimes the right two people come along at the right time in each other's lives, and a story for the ages is born. But it's rare that we get to see such stories captured in real-time. This time we're lucky. In a silent saga befitting a Pixar short film—complete with soundtrack—a man and his mystery neighbor have taken us all on a beautiful journey of music, love, longing, and loss.

Giorgio Lo Porto is an Italian living in London, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, he shared a video of his new neighbor playing piano. The music is muffled behind their shared wall, but clear enough to hear. Lo Porto wrote that he left a note for the mystery neighbor, telling them he loved their music and asking if they could play "My Heart Will Go On." And so they did.

 celine dion, my heart will go on, titanic "My Heart WIll Go On" by Celine Dion Giphy  

Lo Porto left another note suggesting that they play something together, each in their own apartments. A call-and-response duet of sorts. He didn't know if they'd do it, or if they'd forget when the time came. He also said he himself hadn't played in months. But he started playing at 2pm, and as soon as he stopped, the neighbor began.

Their duets became a weekend "meet up," playing back and forth through their shared wall.

You can watch a compilation of the performance below but keep reading because there is so much more to this beautiful story:

  - YouTube  youtu.be  

 


Seems like a perfect meet-cute in a romantic comedy, doesn't it?

On Valentine's Day, they played a duet and Lo Porto wrote "It's Valentine's Day. We're in lockdown. This was our way of saying, I don't know who you are but I'm here. You're not alone."

Then it came time for them to meet.

"Well, today I have met my neighbor," Lo Porto wrote in a video shared a week later. "It was better than expected."

"His name is Emil..."

 piano, piano duets, music, mystery neighbor A mystery neighbor started playing along on the piano and a beautiful friendship formed.Photo credit: Canva

"He is 78 years old, originally from Poland. This is his temporary accommodation while he waits for his house to be sold."

"He lost his wife in December due to COVID," Lo Porto shared. "And all he has left is the piano. And the reason why he plays at 2pm every weekend is because his wife loved it."

"He thanked me for keeping him motivated and less lonely. And I promised that I'll play with him until he moves out."

"He is camera shy," he added. "But I'll try again when he's ready."

Lo Porto shared that Emil is "a special soul" and that "he is fine now, healing." And his piano playing is just gorgeous.

Playing with Emil inspired Lo Porto to write his own song. "I woke up with 3 notes in my head," he wrote on February 27.

He added some string orchestration to it and called it "Dear Emil." It's the first song he's ever written.

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

"When I wrote this piece I started picturing Emil's life," he wrote. "A 78 y.o. widower who lost his wife due to this stupid virus. Spending days at home alone due to lockdown. Looking forward to play her favourite piano songs at 2pm every weekend, until a note appeared on his door. A letter showing he was heard and not alone. And a new friendship started. Two pianos between a wall, not knowing who was playing. But it didn't matter."

"You can be the light of somebody else's darkness. So keep shining." Another week later, Lo Porto announced that Emil was moving out the following week, and shared their last weekend duet—the much requested "Moonlight Sonata."

He said Emil still didn't want to be on camera, but said he was much happier and thanked everyone who had been watching their duets. Lo Porto promised he would keep playing for him on the weekends.

 piano, piano playing, music, duets Two men bonded over their love of piano.  Giphy  

It would be lovely if the story ended there, but it doesn't. (May need a tissue now if you haven't already grabbed one.)

Lo Porto shared on March 14th that he'd received word that Emil had passed away in his sleep: "And now he is reunited with his wife."

"Dear Emil," he wrote. "I knew very little about you, but you changed my life. You gave me back my passion, and we shared that with the world. You'll be in my heart. I'll keep playing, thinking of how powerful music can be. You said I was your light, but you've been mine too. Bye, Emil."

  - YouTube  www.youtube.com  

 

If you needed a good cry today, hope that helped. And if you needed a reminder that humans can be wonderful and life can connect us in beautiful and mysterious ways, now you've got one.

You can follow Lo Porto on YouTube and listen to his music on Spotify as well.

This article originally appeared four years ago.

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Love Stories

Daughter shares real-life 'Parent Trap' love story about her parents remarriage after divorce

"You lived the dream of every child of divorced parents 🥹"

gachelraede/Instagram

Rachel Gaede's divorced parents Julie and Scott remarry in real-life 'Parent Trap' love story.

It's the stuff of movies. Parents get divorced, fall back in love, and get remarried. Of course, it did happen in the iconic Disney movie The Parent Trap. And it's also the story of TikTokker Rachel Gaede's (@gachelraede) parents Julie and Scott.

After 17 years of marriage, the couple separated in 2014, something that Gaede and her sister Caroline were "relieved" about. "There was so much tension and conflict in our house," Rachel told TODAY. "After they finally parted ways, we were were like, 'This is the right move.'"

However, during the COVID pandemic in 2020, the family decided to quarantine together. "It was forced proximity," Julie told the outlet. "Neither of us were looking forward to spending time together." And things changed.

In a recent video shared on Instagram, Rachel fully recounts how her parents fell back in love after years apart. She explained that initially, it was just going to be herself, sister Caroline, her mom and their grandma quarantining together. But her Dad told her, "'I want to see my kids'...for the first time in 10 years, it was the 4 of us together all the time. The vibes were insane," she says in the video.

Though the transition to living together again under one roof wasn't totally smooth, feelings began to develop. "There was one time where mom was getting all blushy and schoolgirly," Caroline shared during an appearance on TODAY. "Rachel was like, 'You have a crush on Dad and I know it!' and (our Mom) ran into the other room."

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Julie also told TODAY, "Everything from the past fell away and I realized that family was all that mattered and the four of us needed to be together again."

Julie and Scott's relationship continued to grow, and Rachel explains that her grandma had a health scare that propelled them to get engaged. "It was really important to us that she saw everything come full-circle. We were like, 'Dad, you need to propose right now!" she said.

The video pans to a shot of Scott showing their grandma the ring he got for Julie, and Rachel explains that he proposed to her in the same location they got married the first time. A year later, the couple married on Dec. 28, 2023.

@gachelraede

successful parent trap 🫡🫡

The ceremony was just Julie and Scott along with Rachel and Caroline, with their cousin Scott as the officiant. In another video, Rachel shared that she and her sister wore blue dresses for the ceremony, which represented their mom's 'something blue'.

"There are truly, genuinely no words to describe the way that it feels to watch your parents fall in love with each other. Our lives haven't always been perfect, but it has been interesting," Rachel said at the end of her video.

And viewers absolutely love Julie and Scott's imperfectly perfect love story, with many noting its similarity toThe Parent Trap storyline. "You lived the dream of every child of divorced parents🥹," one commented. Another wrote, "This literally reminds me of the parent trap in the cutest way so happy for your family🫶🏻🥹." And another shared, "They realized why the fell in love to begin with."

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​'Love on the Spectrum'​s Abbey writes the most heartfelt song and fans are in tears

"Heart just turned into a puddle and stayed there."

Photo by Anna Kolosyuk on Unsplash

This song is melting hearts everywhere.

It began in Australia. Producer Karina Holden, alongside director Cian O'Clery, had seen many dating shows and wanted to make something unique and heartfelt, geared entirely toward men and women on the autism spectrum.

O'Clery got the idea after working on a documentary about people with disabilities seeking employment. Screen Rant writer Christine Persaud shares, "After working on the Australian documentary series Employable Me, which shed light on how having a disability should not make someone unemployable, he came across an interesting and unexpected piece of information."

Holden tells Forbes Australia, "It took a long time to convince a public broadcaster [ABC] that this dating show would be done in a unique and authentic way and that there was a real public service value to the series because it spoke about people who are often marginalized and misunderstood."

But they, with Northern Pictures Productions, persevered, and the show was so well-received that it got a second season. Netflix picked it up to share with other countries around the world. From there, a U.S. version was born, airing its first season in 2022 and its most recent season just last week.

In their quest to cast vulnerable and lovable people—truly opening their lives to the examination of love and even heartbreak—the co-creators and producers exceeded expectations. Each season, the cast members (often recurring) allow cameras to follow them, their families, their dates, laughter, and tears. They're also assigned dating coaches/therapists to tenderly address some of the specific issues that come with being on the spectrum in terms of communication, perception, and processing.

It's a learning experience for the daters, their families, and the audience. And more than that, it's a downright joy. We get the honor of watching people express their purest desire—the one most every single person has on earth: to find love.

We watch two of the daters, Abbey and David, go from shy introductions all the way to traveling the world together. And this season, Abbey treats us to a song she wrote specifically for him. With lyrics like "You're the lion to my lioness" (Abbey loves lions!), "The milk to my chardonnay. My Prince Charming doesn't bring me flowers; he knows I'd rather have Gummy Bears any day," David, and their respective families, gasp, as they're so deeply overjoyed.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

And the fans are too. It's posted on X with the caption: "You're not emotionally prepared for Abbey's song to David." A commenter replies, "Heart just turned into a puddle and stayed there." They're not wrong. It's climbing quickly in likes on TikTok, with fans feeling emotional. One points out, "Hard to believe she was once nonverbal. Sweetest thing I've ever seen." Over on YouTube, the comment section is also filled with people sharing that they were moved to tears. One writes, "Can’t lie, this made me cry like a baby, and I absolutely did not expect that to happen."

One person has compliments for their families: "Can we just say that the parents who have raised these amazing kids into young adults are beyond amazing, and we are inspired by their journeys." Another shares a common thread: "It is SO special witnessing Abbey and David's most beautiful love for one another. A true-life princess and prince fairytale!"

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Wife eats last meal her husband made before his death in emotional video

"I'll forever miss his cooking 😭"

sabfortony/TikTok

Sabrina (@sabfortony) eats the last meal her husband Tony cooked for her before he passed away.

Losing someone you love never gets easier, and the grief process comes in waves. One way TikToker Sabrina (@sabfortony) got to honor her husband Tony's memory was by eating the last meal he cooked for her the day he died.

Sabrina shared the emotional video with her followers on TikTok. "I’ll forever miss Tony’s cooking," she captioned the video, adding, "Let's eat my late husband's last meal together."

@sabfortony

i’ll forever miss tony’s cooking #lastmeal #moving #griefjourney #healingjourney #lifeafterloss #partnerloss

It begins with Sabrina holding a small quart-sized plastic container up to the camera, and she begins to describe its significance. "I have something very special here. The day that Tony passed away, I really wanted curry–and I wanted Japanese curry, so I asked Tony to make me some and he did," she says. "I ended up freezing it because I wanted to preserve it forever. But because I'm moving out of state, I need to eat this. I know some of you might think that is crazy cuz it's been over two years. Tony was the primary cook of our family, and so anytime I was craving something he would make it for me. That was one of the many ways that he showed love for me."

She then heats up the bowl of curry so that it is "scalding hot," noting that it has "turned to mush" before she tastes it. "Thank you Tony for my last meal in this home," she says. "And my apologies that I am raw-dogging this–I don't have any rice."

TikTok · Sabrina 🫶🏼

tiktok couple, love story, widow, last meal, emotional TikTok · Sabrina 🫶🏼www.tiktok.com

160.8K likes, 1635 comments. “I never want to forget what we had, ❤️ so I choose to tell our story. My heart breaks for the ones who’ve faced a similar tragedy.”

As she tastes it, she is delighted. "Mmm! Still good," she says. "This has carrots, onions, potatoes, beef, and he put mushrooms in it. Beef is still very tender!" As she gets to the last bite, she says, "Thank you, Tony!"

Sabrina's emotional video got an overwhelming response in the comments.

"🥺🥺🥺 last meal in the home you shared together 🥺," one wrote, and Sabrina replied, "😭 he knew i needed it 💗."

Another wrote, "Just thinking how his hands cut the ingredients and his heart cooked it with love made me sob. What a beautiful moment." Sabrina responded, "so much love 😭😭 it’s so special."

Another viewer commented, "He’s sending you off to the next chapter with love 🥹❤️," and Sabrina replied, "so true 😭 i’m so thankful for that."

Other viewers shared their personal stories of how food connected them with lost loved ones. "I kept my mom’s kimchi for as long as I could. I ate it the night I got my heartbroken and felt so comforted. Food is such a strong connection to those we know we can’t hold anymore," one shared. Sabrina replied, "food really is such a beautiful way to connect with people 😭 i’m glad your moms kimchi was a source of comfort 💗 she is with you always."

Another viewer shared, "When my grandmother knew she was sick, before she told anybody, she baked, cooked, froze, and canned until the pantry and freezer were full. After she died my grandfather ate her meals for a year." Sabrina responded, "what a beautiful soul 💗 caring for the people she loves."

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