•  Lisa and Jim share the same first memories of each other – kissing behind the oak tree in the playground at primary school and walking home hand in hand (with Lisa's mum driving alongside the six-year-olds).

• The pair lost contact when Lisa was sent to a convent school aged nine. She moved house aged 12 but despite living in the same area and playing at the same places, they never bumped into each other again.

• Getting on with their lives, they still thought of each other – and Lisa felt a pang in her heart every time she saw a male red-head (Jim's red hair had been one of her favourite things).

• Aged 19, Lisa moved to Canada. Just before she left a friend revealed her friend was pregnant – by Lisa's childhood sweetheart Jim. “I knew then that a reunion was out of the question,” says Lisa.

• But 20 years later, after signing up to Facebook and looking through a mutual pal's friend list Lisa, now single with a young daughter, felt that familiar pang in her heart when she spotted Jim's name and photo. She sent him a message and was delighted when he replied. He had two grown sons but was single too.

• Daily emails and Skype chats followed, and Jim visited Lisa four months later – his first ever trip abroad. It was during that visit he decided he wanted to marry her – having previously said he would never wed. When Lisa visited Jim six months later he popped the question. They wed in December 2009 in Florida but had to spend the next year living apart while Jim's Visa was sorted.

• They managed a couple of visits each and have recently been reunited for good – Lisa and her daughter spent Christmas and their first wedding anniversary with Jim in the UK and Jim will return to Canada with them for good at the end of January.

“It's been hard spending our first year as man and wife apart but we're so happy to be together for good now,” smiles Lisa.

“I got goosebumps when I saw Jim's name on Facebook and was terrified waiting for his reply but I'm so glad I had the guts to do it. It was like we'd never been apart.

“I'd seen him a few times before moving to Canada but was too scared of rejection to approach him.

“He'd shaved off all his lovely ginger hair but he grew it back for the wedding as he knew how much I loved it.

“It's been emotionally and financially exhausting but at last we are together. I can't believe I've ended up marrying my first boyfriend more than 30 years after I first dated him!”