'If you don't date Kevin': Dad begs daughter to marry complete stranger he met on a plane. His wish came true

In 2021, Kevin Perreault boarded a flight, flying from Denver to Phoenix. It was like any regular flight, except it changed his life forever, and the story is just too beautiful to be real. Sitting by the window on an American Airlines flight, Kevin met Ed Striffler, 53, a stranger who soon became his family, PEOPLE reported. 

Kevin had just returned after attending the 2021 Design-Build Conference & Expo and was wearing a shirt showing his affiliation with the Arizona State University Chapter, which Striffler instantly recognized. Soon, both discovered they had not only attended the same conference but were also both from the construction background, and that fueled their initial interaction. Besides, Ed happened to be a client and a good friend of Kevin's then-boss. Their conversation continued, and Ed mentioned his daughter, Bec Striffler, who was also studying at Arizona State University, and showed her pictures too. Kevin was flattered; he couldn't take his eyes off Bec, but of course, he couldn't say it to Ed. Once they landed, Ed gave his business card to Kevin, and that was the end of their first meeting. 

Ed was totally impressed by Kevin and went on praising him in front of her daughter, but Bec wasn't much interested, especially because they didn't even know his last name, making it quite impossible to find him. "No context, he whips out his phone and shows the picture of Kev that he took. Word for word, he says, 'This is Kevin, and if you don't date Kevin, I'm going to date Kevin.' And I was like, 'Oh my God, what did you do?'" Bec recalls her dad telling her over dinner. Ed immediately texted Kevin's former boss, asking about the boy he met on the flight, while Bec searched for Kevin on Instagram and followed him. Surprisingly, weeks later, Kevin reached out to her, asking her out over DM. 

"That whole week leading up to the date, my dad was texting me almost daily. He was like, 'Where are you going on your date? How is it going? What are you guys talking about?' My dad was so invested," Bec shared. Ed's matchmaking worked because her daughter eventually started dating Kevin, and the duo made their relationship official in December 2021. After three years of dating, the couple got engaged, with Kevin proposing to Bec during a Coldplay concert. "He's super pumped. He just was telling everyone. He said the first person he texted was Kevin's old boss," Bec said, explaining how her dad reacted. 

Meanwhile, reacting to the story, a person on Facebook, Heather Vanderhoff, commented, "Cute story! Best wishes to the couple. My mom did something similar with my now husband and me. My parents were at a work party for my mom’s bank. The next day, my mom said, 'I have someone you have to meet.' My dad just said, 'I had nothing to do with any of this… she had a glass of wine (she doesn’t drink — lol).' My response was pretty much the same as Bec’s: 'What did you do?' Here we are over 20 years later; I guess Mom was right."

 Similarly, Shierley Tanardi joked, "I need a new father because he never sets me up with anyone for me like that!" Another user, Stacy Seidlik, wrote, "Great story. Love to hear stories about love and happiness. And kudos to Ed. He knew that Kevin was a good guy and would make his daughter happy. Father knows best, as the saying goes."