A man in Edmonton, Canada recently made international headlines for holding onto a wrapped Christmas gift from a high-school girlfriend who dumped him nearly 50 years ago. The suspense is now over for him and for everyone else when she finally opened it for him.

Adrian Pearce, now a married father of two, received the small present wrapped in shiny, purple paper shortly before Christmas 1971 from Vicki Allen, who was his very first sweetheart. They both attended George S. Henry Secondary School in Toronto at the time. But when Vicki handed the present to him, she also broke up with him at the same time. Completely crestfallen, Pearce went back home, threw the package under the family Christmas tree and promised himself he would never open it.

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For years, Pearce continued placing the present under the tree, even after he got married and had children. He said he kept it initially in case the couple got back together — but after 48 years, it became just a habit.

Pearce was planning to open the present on the 50th anniversary of receiving it — but after sharing his story of the gift in 2017, it went viral. In the year since he reconnected with Vicky Allen and she was at the gift opening where the mystery was finally solved. The public gift-unwrapping event was part of a fundraiser for the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton, a local charity that provides Christmas meals to families in need. And as Allen stood on stage with Pearce standing beside her and his wife, Janet, in the audience, she herself didn’t know what the unwrapping would reveal.

“Oh no!” Allen exclaimed when she finally saw. “I can’t give that to him!”

It was a small book called “Love Is: New Ways To Spot That Certain Feeling.”

Allen also revealed why she had dumped Pearce all those years ago. It turned out that while Allen was shopping for Pearce’s gift at the mall, she met another boy and he kissed her on the spot. “It wouldn’t have been so bad, but I kissed him back,” Allen said. She said she knew Pearce would find out she had betrayed him. She knew it was over between them. “It was a very innocent relationship. We were in high school,” Allen explained about her relationship with Pearce. “I didn’t know he felt as intensely as he did.”

Pearce has since written a book about this sweet story, and his wife and Allen have even contributed chapters. “I think it’s absolutely fantastic that we’re friends. My wife is friends with (Vicki),” Pearce told the crowd.

“We’re in a fantastic place where all you can feel is love.”

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