A couple who had their first date in Chapters left a poignant note on the Dublin bookshop's post-it wall.
The Champs like countless other readers were delighted to hear that Chapters was able to reopen as it is the place that brought them together.
The shop on Parnell Street has had its fair share of stories on and off the bookshelves over the last 40 years.
Read more: New owners of Chapters hail 'fantastic' customers as beloved book store reopens
Rachel and Karen Champ shared their own love story on a touching note.
It read: "We had our first date here. Now we're married. Chapters for Romance. Missed you!"
Rachel told Dublin Live that the couple visit the bookshop on the anniversary of their first date and it is a place they both treasure.
She said: "We met on Tinder about five years ago. It was the beginning of April in 2017.
"Both of us mentioned that we liked books and we liked reading. We had said that going to a bookshop would be an ideal first date.
"That was what we did. We met in Chapters and we walked around for like two or three hours, picking out books.
"Then we went to Starbucks afterwards and compared what we bought.
"It was about a week until we went on our second date. We were both in college and working at the time. We were trying to figure it out.
"Our first date was on the Thursday and then the following Saturday was when we had the second date."
"At the time actually, when we met- I used to work in an Easons. It was a joke even when we got married. One of Karen's bridesmaids mentioned it in her speech.
"Every year, we would usually go back on our anniversary. We would end up going more than that during the year anyway but we would specifically make a point of going there on our anniversary.
"It's something that Karen's parents do as well. They re-do their first date and we thought it was cute. Every April 27, we go back to Chapters, buy some books and go to Starbucks."
The pair got married last summer with a reduced guest list due to Covid-19 restrictions. However, this did not make the day any less magical.
Rachel said: "We were together for three years when we got engaged. We got married last summer. There were still some restrictions. We ended up having 25 at the wedding.
"It was amazing. It was so nice just to have the 25 there. There were a lot of book themes through the wedding. Our save the dates were bookmarks that we had made. The centrepieces were books on each table.
"We incorporated it quite a bit into the wedding."
When the couple found out that Chapters was closing, they were both incredibly upset.
Rachel said: "We were both devastated. We both cried. It's where we think of our relationship starting. It started the whole thing. It's where we hit it off because we realised we had so much in common.
"We had both read so many similar books.. We had similar taste in authors.
"We were devastated. When it actually closed, we didn't get a chance to go up to it before it actually closed as I had surgery in January.
"We both work from home and the day that they tweeted they were reopening I could hear Karen screaming from her office.
"She came running into me. The staff were telling us that just before they closed, a couple had gotten engaged in there.
"We went over to the Post-it wall and Karen wrote it out."
Rachel said that places like Chapters set Dublin apart from other European cities and often hold special memories for locals.
She said: "We don't live in Dublin anymore but they are the specific things that we come back up for.
"You can get the standard shops anywhere. Places like Chapters are what sets Dublin apart from everywhere else.
"It's sad to see these diverse and unique places closed just for a hotel that's the same as the other hotels in Dublin.
"We don't need anymore hotels in Dublin. There's enough of them.
"If you take everything out of Dublin that makes it interesting, nobody is going to go."
Read more: 'Sad day for the city' as Dublin's Chapters Bookstore closes its doors for good
Read more: Massive queues outside Chapters Bookstore as it prepares to close after 40 years
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