MONROE - Once upon a time - in 1992, to be exact - a young French foreign exchange student fell head over heels in love with a dark-haired Monroe High School girl. But, oh yes, as in all good love stories, he was warned not to date her.
"She was dating a football player, and I was little, like ... this," said Guillaume Marchand, now 36, holding up his pinky finger to indicate his smaller build.
Marchand said Mark Klein, the father of his host family, told him not to start trouble by coming between the couple. So, instead, Marchand got involved with his classes, excelled at tennis and became just good friends with Heather Olson. Marchand was a senior that year, and Olson, a sophomore.
"He was cute and funny," said Olson.
Ah, yes, the girl with the dark hair and pretty smile, now a chiropractor in Madison, remembers Marchand well. They talked a lot in class and laughed together - perhaps a bit too much.
"We sat next to each other in speech class," Olson said Friday, as the two toured the high school together, reminiscing about their school days. "We got in trouble for talking, and Mr. Trumpy moved him to the opposite corner."
Marchand graduated that spring, returned to France and became a civil engineer working in Paris.
The classroom where they forged their friendship is now gone, to make room for the school's biology wing.
"It's all right," Marchand said, with a shrug.
"We found each other, and that was the hard part," Olson said, smiling. "He said, 'I found you, and I'm not letting you go.'"
In one way, Marchand never let go; he couldn't forget. Even the date of her birthday coincided with that of his sister.
But there were many years the communication was not kept up. They both had busy careers to establish, and the oceanic distance between them seemed, for Olson, too big to cross.
Marchand said his parents, Andre' and Monique, gave up hope of ever seeing their son marry after so many years of him remaining single.
But some mothers have a way of nudging, and technology helped close the distance.
Liz Klein, Marchand's host mother, sent him Olson's e-mail.
As crazy about her as he may have been 15 years before, Marchand didn't go rushing in. He e-mailed Olson in 2006 and 2008 and again in 2009. He still has those e-mail, Olson said.
In 2010, Olson's mother, Diane, and sister, Tiffany, connected with Marchand on Facebook.
"They said, 'Oh, I'm sure she'd like to hear from you,'" Olson said.
And liked it, she did. The chatterboxes separated in class so many years ago picked up where they left off. Chatting on Facebook led to Skyping. Phone apps cut the cost of calling to nothing, which, by November, led Marchand to fly to Wisconsin.
Two days into his visit, Marchand could resist no longer. He had waited half his life and nearly lost his dark-haired girl.
"He said, 'I love you. I've loved you for 18 years,'" Olson said.
Love led them to flying between Paris and Wisconsin every six weeks, to Paris for Christmas and New Years, and to the French Riviera for ... well, for the sake of love.
The two married in Spring Green last week at a rustic log cabin in the woods, a setting fit for their romance. They speak now of someday living on the French Riviera.
It all seems too magical to Olson, but can it mean happy ever after?
"I know, a crazy story like this, but I feel like it's a fairy tale. I'm Cinderella and met my prince," she said.
"She was dating a football player, and I was little, like ... this," said Guillaume Marchand, now 36, holding up his pinky finger to indicate his smaller build.
Marchand said Mark Klein, the father of his host family, told him not to start trouble by coming between the couple. So, instead, Marchand got involved with his classes, excelled at tennis and became just good friends with Heather Olson. Marchand was a senior that year, and Olson, a sophomore.
"He was cute and funny," said Olson.
Ah, yes, the girl with the dark hair and pretty smile, now a chiropractor in Madison, remembers Marchand well. They talked a lot in class and laughed together - perhaps a bit too much.
"We sat next to each other in speech class," Olson said Friday, as the two toured the high school together, reminiscing about their school days. "We got in trouble for talking, and Mr. Trumpy moved him to the opposite corner."
Marchand graduated that spring, returned to France and became a civil engineer working in Paris.
The classroom where they forged their friendship is now gone, to make room for the school's biology wing.
"It's all right," Marchand said, with a shrug.
"We found each other, and that was the hard part," Olson said, smiling. "He said, 'I found you, and I'm not letting you go.'"
In one way, Marchand never let go; he couldn't forget. Even the date of her birthday coincided with that of his sister.
But there were many years the communication was not kept up. They both had busy careers to establish, and the oceanic distance between them seemed, for Olson, too big to cross.
Marchand said his parents, Andre' and Monique, gave up hope of ever seeing their son marry after so many years of him remaining single.
But some mothers have a way of nudging, and technology helped close the distance.
Liz Klein, Marchand's host mother, sent him Olson's e-mail.
As crazy about her as he may have been 15 years before, Marchand didn't go rushing in. He e-mailed Olson in 2006 and 2008 and again in 2009. He still has those e-mail, Olson said.
In 2010, Olson's mother, Diane, and sister, Tiffany, connected with Marchand on Facebook.
"They said, 'Oh, I'm sure she'd like to hear from you,'" Olson said.
And liked it, she did. The chatterboxes separated in class so many years ago picked up where they left off. Chatting on Facebook led to Skyping. Phone apps cut the cost of calling to nothing, which, by November, led Marchand to fly to Wisconsin.
Two days into his visit, Marchand could resist no longer. He had waited half his life and nearly lost his dark-haired girl.
"He said, 'I love you. I've loved you for 18 years,'" Olson said.
Love led them to flying between Paris and Wisconsin every six weeks, to Paris for Christmas and New Years, and to the French Riviera for ... well, for the sake of love.
The two married in Spring Green last week at a rustic log cabin in the woods, a setting fit for their romance. They speak now of someday living on the French Riviera.
It all seems too magical to Olson, but can it mean happy ever after?
"I know, a crazy story like this, but I feel like it's a fairy tale. I'm Cinderella and met my prince," she said.