Indeed, life—and love—are full of surprises.
A 68-year old man from Miami had a "terrible shock" after finding out that his new wife, a 24-year-old woman from Jacksonville, is actually his own biological granddaughter, The Florida Sun Post reports.
Just three months after they got married, the couple—who requested anonymity—found out that they have blood ties when he showed his bride his family photo album.
To the young bride's utter astonishment, she saw from the photos that her father was the son of the man she married.
Her 68-year-old husband said he had become estranged from his children of his first marriage after his spouse left him and took their children with her to an undisclosed location. "All these years I was never able to find her," he told reporters.
The man remarried and had several more children with his second wife, whom he divorced in 2009.
The man said being single again made him lonely and he yearned for companionship. "The only people who wanted to see me were my ex-wife and kids, and they were always asking for money," he said.
Last year, he decided to find a new wife through a local dating agency that specialises in matching older men with women. "They had a website with profiles of many attractive younger girls," he said.
As he looked at the pictures of the young women, he came across the profile of the 24-year-old woman he would later marry—not knowing that she was his own granddaughter.
"I just felt something strange when I saw her photos," he told reporters. "It was like a sense of deja vu, but at the time I couldn't figure out why she seemed so familiar."
The two eventually met, dated and eventually decided to settle down.
The man expressed regret upon learning that his new bride was his own granddaughter. "I felt so bad for her, because I know how she must have been feeling," he said.
Despite the shocking discovery, however, the couple decided not to divorce as they vowed to make their marriage a success.
"If we'd never have found out, we would've lived our lives happily together, and us being related shouldn't change that," the man said.
The young woman also sounded optimistic. "Every couple is different and special in their own ways. I feel our bond is so strong that even something like this is not enough to make us give up," she said.
