AS an 11-year-old, Rachael Thornley was too shy to tell classmate Paddy Kirkwood she had a crush on him.
But 15 years after leaving school, a chance meeting on Facebook finally gave her the opportunity to bag her ideal man.
And after a whirlwind romance the couple wed and have had FOUR kids in just THREE years.
Rachael, 34, says: “It hfas been crazy. But when you know, you know.”
The full-time mum first spotted Paddy, now 35, in the corridor at Blessed Thomas Holford school, in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, in 1997.
But she was too shy to talk to him, so Rachael admired her fellow pupil from afar and sent him anonymous Valentine’s cards every year.
She explains: “My friends would put cards from me on his seat in assembly, signed with a question mark.
“But he never knew they were from me.”
After leaving school, Rachael moved to New Zealand and had a son, Oliver, now seven.
By 2015, she found herself back in Manchester and a single mum.
But a scroll on Facebook one day changed everything when she spotted Paddy, a company director, had commented on a mutual friend’s post. Feelings flooded back.
She says: “I plucked up the courage to message him. I wrote, ‘You haven’t changed a bit’.
“I wasn’t even sure if he’d remember me, given that we’d never spoken.
“But he replied right away saying, ‘Neither have you’.”
From there, Paddy — who has a son from a previous relationship — and Rachael chatted every day on Facebook.
After a week, he asked the question she had longed to hear since she was 11: “Do you want to go on a date?”
She says of that first meeting: “As soon as I saw him, it was like we’d known each other forever. Which we had, I suppose.”
For the next fortnight, they spent nearly every day together, before Paddy mentioned he was house-hunting and suggested Rachael join him for a viewing — then that she moved in with him.
She recalls: “I thought, ‘Is he mad?’. “But part of me just knew it was right.”
Just six weeks later, in early July, Paddy had another important question for Rachael.
She recalls: “He proposed to me in Paris. People thought it was way too fast and told me it wouldn’t last, but I was sure we were meant to be together.”
Shortly before the trip, Rachael had discovered she was pregnant, but at 12 weeks she learned it was a molar pregnancy, where abnormal cells, rather than a healthy foetus, grow in the womb.
Putting their sadness behind them, the pair, from Stalybridge, Gtr Manchester, married that December in Paris, in front of 60 friends and family.
Rachael says: “The way we saw it, we wanted to be together, so there was no point in waiting — even though we hadn’t even been together a year.”
In January 2016, Rachael discovered she was expecting and Mollie, now two, was born that September.
Just six weeks after the birth, she was pregnant again — this time with twins.
She says: “We couldn’t believe it. At first, I was terrified about how we’d cope, but Paddy said it was like winning the Lottery.”
The babies, Niall and Luke, were born early in June 2017, meaning Rachael had given birth three times in nine months.
Then, despite taking the Pill, she became pregnant yet again, and added to her brood last November with baby Orla.
Today, life for the Kirkwoods is hectic but happy, with six children in the house when Paddy’s other son comes round on the weekends.
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Rachael’s romance has even inspired her to set up a charity called Wish For A Wedding, which helps couples dealing with a terminal illness to tie the knot.
She adds: “To anyone out there who is doubting whirlwind romances, I’d say this — if something feels right, go for it.”
Paddy adds: “The odds were against us but we’re the luckiest pair in the world.”
- Find out more about Rachael’s charity at wishforawedding.co.uk and mumtobe.com.
Link
https://textbacklinkexchanges.com/former-classmates-reconnected-on-facebook-then-married-and-had-four-kids-in-three-years-now-they-help-other-couples-plan-whirlwind-weddings/
News Photo Former classmates reconnected on Facebook then married and had four kids in three years — now they help other couples plan whirlwind weddings
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