It’s no secret that many people consider Chip and Joanna Gaines to be couple goals—but to Joanna, her parents take the cake.
For those that don’t know, Joanna’s father, Jerry, who is half-Lebanese and half-German, served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. While stationed in Seoul, Korea, he met Joanna’s mom, Nan, a Korean immigrant. That was back in 1969. And now, some 54 years later, her parents returned to the scene of their meet-cute to snap a similar photo.
“Pic 1: My parents in Seoul, Korea 1971,” she captioned a 2-slide carousel on Instagram, accompanied by a flurry of white hearts. “Pic 2: My parents in Seoul, Korea 2023.”
Naturally, Joanna’s fans flocked to the comments section in response to the precious photo recreation.
“Our parents become our hearts along with our children. The beautiful gifts that God gives us. Both show us what unconditional love looks like. You are blessed,” one Instagram user commented.
“I had the pleasure of meeting your mom at Magnolia Table a few years ago,” another fan chimed in. “She spent so much time speaking with us and even took us to a better spot so we could take some photos with us. Much later that day we were walking the grounds and she drove by and literally hung out her window to get our attention to say hello again having remembered who we were. She was grace and love incarnate. You could tell that she is a beautiful soul. One of our favorite memories of visiting Magnolia is your mom.”
This isn’t Joanna’s first time swooning over her parents’ romance, though. Back in 2017, the Fixer Upper star shared another then-and-now carousel of photos in celebration of her parent’s 45th wedding anniversary.
“Their story is one you hear about in the movies,” Joanna captioned the post. “All the odds were against them but they fought through and became an example of how to love, fight for, extend grace to, and honor each other amidst all their many differences.”
Joanna and her extended family joined her parents on this trip to where her mom grew up. She shared photos and videos from their journey on Instagram along with a special message about how much the trip meant. She wrote, in part, “In a lot of ways, this trip felt like coming home. Somehow, connecting with my mom’s past made my own story feel more complete. Feeling grateful for every moment this trip gave us ❤️🇰🇷”
Fans left notes like, “This made me cry….. how incredibly special for you all. ❤️” and “This is so beautiful! I’m so happy for you and your family❤️,” and “This brought tears to my eyes!”