Sisters pull a real-life 'Parent Trap' prank on divorced parents to bring them back together

The pandemic changed many things when it hit the world with full force in 2020. Surprisingly enough, it changed the relationship dynamics of several married couples as well. But Julie Shore and Scott Gaede's marriage had hit rock bottom long before those quarantine days when people faced challenges on personal and professional fronts. "It was forced proximity," 54-year-old Shore told TODAY. "Neither of us looked forward to spending time together."

The couple, who are parents to two adult daughters, Rachel, 24 and Caroline, 20, decided to go their separate ways and divorced. They were unsure how their daughters would settle with both of them post-separation. The sisters told the outlet that they were relieved when their parents split in 2014 after 17 years of marriage. "There was so much tension and conflict in our house," Rachel, an art director in New York City, revealed. "After they finally parted ways, we were like, 'This is the right move.'" Shore added, "The divorce was very contentious for me."

For the sake of their daughters and their sanity, the exes, who resided in Ohio, decided to maintain a peaceful relationship after their divorce. Rachel noted that in 2020, their parents got together once again as friends. It was rocky initially, but she noticed them enjoying each other's company again. "They were authentically having a good time together and it wasn't a show they were putting on for my sister and myself," Rachel shared. "But I don't think my parents noticed what was happening until late 2021."

So, the sisters took it upon themselves to plot a similar plan to the 1961 romantic comedy and its 1998 remake "The Parent Trap." In the film, a pair of twin sisters devise a plan to get their divorced parents back together and just like that, Shore admitted that she was falling in love with her ex-husband again. "I knew I was laughing a lot more. No one makes me laugh as hard as Scott," she revealed. She was at her ex-husband's side when he faced two heartbreaking losses in the family and she accompanied him to the funerals. "Everything from the past fell away and I realized that family was all that mattered and the four of us needed to be together again," she revealed. By the end of 2021, the ex-couple were back together once again.

"It was around that time that the girls were like, 'You need to propose,'" Gaede shared. In 2022, he got down on his knees and proposed to Shore once again. Rachel and Caroline were overjoyed with this reunion and shared a TikTok video documenting the wholesome union of the complete family once again. "WAR IS OVER," Rachel wrote in the video where she posted the intimate marriage ceremony of her parents, "Our parents are officially remarried and we are no longer children of divorce. Successful parent trap."

"Some people are saying, 'All that drama between your parents was for nothing,'" Rachel told the outlet. "But it wasn't for nothing. They learned about forgiveness and resilience and growth." The sisters even wear two rings crafted from the stones in their mother's original engagement ring. They received the jewelry on Christmas. "It's a symbol of everything we've been through," Shore added. "This wasn't just two people getting remarried—it was a family coming back together."