Susie Pierce strolls into typewriting class and picks a seat right next to Eric Gaal. He’s two years older than her, plays soccer and loves to steal her correction tape. What once started as an innocent high school crush is now a marriage of 22 years.

Less than 2% of all marriages are to a high school sweetheart, according to Couples Therapy Inc. In fact, the divorce rate for high school sweethearts is 54% during the first 10 years of marriage, according to Tenn and Tenn. But for Susie and Eric Gaal, although they didn’t officially “date” in high school, they beat the statistics.

“We met in high school in typing class [my freshman year],” Susie said. “He sat next to me and would flirt with me all the time. The next year, he was my cadet teacher for PE class, and he would flirt with me then too.” Susie and Eric met at KHS in 1990 and now live in Kirkwood with their three kids and three dogs. Even though he was a senior and she was a sophomore, Susie said she liked him all throughout high school.

“I had the biggest crush on him because he played soccer and I played field hockey,” Susie said. “We would be on practice fields together and I was always checking him out. He was dating the captain of the pommies at that time.”

Eric said he felt the same way, and admitted to trying to flirt with her. He said that although she was younger than him, he was always excited to see her at school.

“I always marked her [present], even though half the time she didn’t actually come to class,” Eric said. “Coach (Mike) Wade, [a gym teacher at the time], yelled at me to stop doing that because he said it would get him in trouble, but I did it anyway. She was the cute sophomore.”

Susie and Eric both said that although they dated different people, they never stopped crushing on each other. They said they are both happy they didn’t actually start dating in high school, because they worry that if they had, things might have turned out differently.

“[We] probably would’ve screwed it up had we actually started dating in high school,” Eric said. “We’ve known each other for a long time, and I think the best part is that it didn’t happen when it could have.”

Susie and Eric eventually reconnected after college through a friend. They have been together ever since, and are thankful things turned out the way they did.

“We just had our 25th anniversary of our first date,” Susie said. “Maybe what’s meant to be is meant to be. Maybe had we dated in high school we would’ve made it, but I don’t know, I can’t picture that now.”

Max Gaal, sophomore, and Drue Gaal, senior, said they look up to their parents’ relationship. Max said he thinks it is unique that they knew each other in high school.

“I think my parents’ relationship was really special from the start,” Max said. “It’s very cool to see [that] they grew up together, went to Kirkwood and now we’re back in Kirkwood as well.”

Drue said she agrees with Max that it is admirable her parents knew each other in high school. However, she thinks it is unbelievable they actually ended up getting married. She said she cannot imagine marrying someone she knows right now.

“Personally, I think it’s super weird that they met each other in high school because I could never marry anyone that goes to [KHS],” Drue said. “But, I definitely look up to my parents’ relationship.”

Although Eric and Susie met in high school, Eric said he is glad he had his independence when he was in college. He said that by being on his own after high school, he was able to recognize what he wanted in life.

“Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder,” Eric said. “If you find your way back to each other, it’s probably meant to be. But I think you need to experience other things before you truly know what you want.”

Max said their parents’ relationship is something to appreciate. He said that when he gets older, he would like to have a relationship similar to theirs.

“I think my parents have a very healthy relationship,” Max said. “They can talk to each other about stuff, and that’s what I want in life. Especially as you get older, you have a lot of different stuff you have to worry about, and I want to be able to have someone to [be with] through that.”