A 78-year-old man proposed to his high school crush at the airport ahead of their 60th class reunion, and the viral moment taught young TikTokers it's never too late to find love
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- A couple who rekindled their romance after 60 years are going viral on TikTok.
- Dr. Thomas McMeekin, a Florida dermatologist, recently proposed to Nancy Gambell at a Tampa International Airport gate.
- Young TikTokers were touched by the moment, which reaffirmed their faith in love at any age.
A 78-year-old Florida dermatologist has taught TikTokers that it's never too late to find love with a viral airport proposal that he orchestrated with the help of his office staff.
The video of the moment has been shared on TikTok by several members of his team at Academic Alliance in Dermatology in Tampa, where Dr. Thomas McMeekin practices. It's nabbed millions of collective views and elicited emotional responses from viewers.
On June 30, McMeekin greeted now-fiancee Nancy Gambell, 79, at Tampa International Airport after she'd just touched down from California. In a video captured by medical assistant Angelia Fedrick, McMeekin leads Gambell over to a seat at the gate and hands her a bouquet of red roses and a necklace with both of their birthstones on it before kneeling down on a pillow and pulling out his proposal speech.
"It's been sixty years since we first met," McMeekin says to Gambell, as strangers at the gate gathered to watch and film the heartwarming moment. "You have always been the one that I've had a crush on since your cheerleader days." After tearfully asking for her hand in marriage, Gambell responds, "I will," as the two hug to loud applause.
Fedrick and Samari Rivera, who are both medical assistants to McMeekin, told Insider that they have forged a close relationship with the doctor and offered to help him orchestrate the big moment.
"He kept talking about it every single day," Fedrick said. "All the staff were like, 'We have to go.'"
"We had picked up a pillow so he could kneel down and propose, and we got some stuff to make a sign saying, 'She said yes' – because we knew she would," Rivera said. "He knew what he was going to say and he followed through with what he was going to do. Find me a man like that."
According to a local Fox affiliate, McMeekin and Gambell met in high school in California and briefly dated in college before going their separate ways. They first reconnected a decade ago at their 50th high school reunion, though both were married to other people. McMeekin has been married three times, Fedrick and Rivera told Insider, while Gambell has been married four times.
With their 60th high school reunion slated for September, and both now single, the two had reconnected in recent weeks, Fedrick and Rivera said, and quickly decided they wanted to get married.
"They never really dated to be honest," Rivera explained. "They just reconnected, and he's like, 'I wanna be with her.' And that was it."
Fredrick added that McMeekin has plans to retire in a few months to move to California to be together full-time.
Commenters were touched by the endearing love story. "This needs to be a Hallmark movie," one wrote.
It reminded many people that love can happen at any age. "They were meant to be, nor [sic] time, distance tore them apart. When 2 souls are meant to be they will find each other," another user added.