STRANGERS KEPT A PROMISE TO MEET AGAIN 10 MONTHS LATER

An Arkansas woman flew to New York for a Brooklyn restaurant reunion with a stranger she had met once, at a dinner 10 months earlier. Erin Jackson and Sue, a Brooklyn resident, had agreed to meet again at the same restaurant at 7 p.m. on December 27, 2024, and neither had the other’s phone number to cancel with.

Jackson was in New York on February 28, 2024, for a birthday dinner with her husband and friends. She and Sue were seated near each other, started talking, and clicked, PEOPLE reported. Sue was in her 70s at the time of that report.

As Jackson’s group got ready to leave, Sue told her she hoped they would bump into each other again. Jackson told PEOPLE that Sue said: “New York magic is real, so I hope we run into each other sometime.”

Jackson was not willing to leave it entirely to magic. She told PEOPLE she answered: “I believe in New York magic, but what if we create a little bit of our own? Let’s plan a time to run into each other.”

They picked the date and the place, and they skipped swapping contact information. Jackson’s Instagram caption later said she did not even know Sue’s last name, according to Gulf News. The whole plan rested on two people remembering a date.

Both did. Jackson and her family flew to New York for it.

“We came because that’s when we promised Sue that we would be there,” Jackson told PEOPLE.

“It was never a thought in our mind to not come,” she said.

Outside the restaurant, Jackson’s family ran into Sue and her friend Dominick. The two women recognized each other and screamed with excitement, InspireMore reported. They then went inside and talked.

“We were just two people who really wanted to keep a promise to each other,” Jackson told PEOPLE.

The video that took off

Jackson filmed the trip and the reunion and posted it on Instagram. The clip shows her family traveling to Brooklyn and then meeting Sue.

“So we had no way to communicate. Just a promise to a stranger. Well today is December 27,” Jackson says in the video.

“We’re best friends forever,” Sue says in it.

The video passed 2.8 million views, Gulf News reported. Commenters called it “the most special thing,” and one wrote: “This is so wonderful. I’m glad you were actually able to hold to it. We could all use this kind of little magic.”

Jackson told PEOPLE that Sue was “really grateful” that viewers felt joy watching the reunion.

This time, the women did trade contact information. Jackson also told PEOPLE that her family would be moving to Brooklyn, which could give them more time with Sue.

The women also made another date. Upworthy reported that they planned a second dinner together for June 27, 2025.