KYOTO — Dan Bertuzzi, 39, and his wife, Asuka, 31, have a relationship that's a fairy tale come true.

The two first met as young children over two decades ago in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Dan's mother was teaching Asuka's mom English, before losing contact after Asuka's family returned to Japan. Fast forward more than two decades, when the mothers of both, who kept in sporadic contact over years, put them in touch. An old friendship begun in childhood was rekindled, and then ripened into love and then marriage.

Your story is what many people who had childhood sweethearts dream about, but how did it actually happen?