Young sweethearts reunited after holiday romance
Love’s young dream has been saved with the rekindling of a holiday romance.
Jackson Foster, who is seven years old, and nineyear-old Alecia Johnson met on holiday in Spain last year - but lost touch when their families forgot to exchange contact details.
And ever since they got home, the pair have remembered each other and talked to their mams about seeing one another again.
All Jackson’s mum Michelle knew was that Alecia’s family was from Washington so she posted an appeal on a Facebook page covering the town.
“They just played together all week,” said Michelle, from Newcastle.
"But we didn’t exchange details and ever since, he's gone on and on and on about it.
“He used to say she looked like Moana, from the Disney film, because she has got really long, dark hair.
“It was actually one of my friends who said: ‘Why don’t you try to do something online?’ so I did.”
Michelle was soon put in touch with Alecia’s grandmother Sharon Johnson and discovered the star-crossed pair would have been reunited anyway - both families had already independently booked up for the same hotel and the same week this year.
Sharon said Alecia had also been obsessed with trying to trace Jackson.
“We just forgot to exchange numbers and I didn’t even think about putting anything online or on Facebook to see if anybody knew anything,” she said.
“All she has been saying since the holiday is ‘I love Jackson so much, I love Jackson so much.’
“I hadn’t seen the online post, it was a friend.
“She sent me a link and said ‘Is this the same Jackson that Alecia has been going on about?’
“When I read the message, I just grabbed my camera and took her picture and send it to them,” she said.
The pair were reunited on Thursday, February 13, in Newcastle.
Sharon admitted she did not now know quite how Alecia, who is autistic, would react.
She said before the reunion: “I think she will either go really shy or she will be beaming.”
Thankfully she was all smiles, especially when she saw the card and flowers Jackson had got her.