A man in Canada is finally opening a gift he received from an ex-girlfriend 48 years ago.
When Adrian Pearce’s then-girlfriend broke up with him one day before class in 1970, the teen vowed to never open the Christmas gift she gave him just prior to the split.
Nearly half a century later, the pair is reuniting to unwrap that gift together.
“I skipped school that day and went home, threw the present under the tree saying I was never going to open it,” Pearce said. “I thought that perhaps by holding onto the present—perhaps there’d be a chance in the future that the girl and I could get back together.”
Fast forward and Pearce has been happily married to another woman for 40 years, but he still held onto that gift.
In 2017, Pearce decided it was time to tear it open, but not without Allen. Pearce announced his search for her on social media and from Facebook to phone, it was a slow start.
“I found a Vickey Allen that I telephoned and we had a nice chat and then when I asked her, ‘where did you go to high school?’ it turned out she was 92 years old and she was just happy as heck to have someone call her on the telephone,” Pearce said.
Pearce finally found the right Vickey through a mutual friend they had in high school.
“So he sent her the story and said, ‘hey, here’s your old boyfriend with that present,’ and she was apparently stupified,” Pearce said.
Allen then reached out to Pearce and after months of planning, the two held their own high school reunion, a party in Canada with friends and family coming to watch the unwrapping.
Turns out, the gift inside was a book titled “Love Is.”
Pearce shared that Allen was the one to open the gift and she then gave it to him, meaning he kept his promise of never opening it.
“That way I kept my vow that I would never open the present.”
Pearce has now written a book about this 50-year-long journey with his wife Janet and Allen also contributing by writing a few chapters each.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)