At the Babcock Neighborhood School, kindergarten teacher Julia Merz asks her students what love means to them.
"Some of them were really heartfelt and personal, and others were hilarious," Merz said.
She was so touched by her students' responses that she decided to include them in one of the most important days of her life, the moment she said, "I do."
"Not only were they there in spirit, but also it made me laugh. Especially on a day that can be so hectic," she said.
Before her wedding day, Merz turned her students' "love is" writing prompts into centerpieces displayed at her wedding.
"I had a lot of friends taking pictures of them and sharing them on their social media," Merz said.
At the time, she knew the kids' answers would touch the hearts of friends at her wedding, but she didn't know just how many people it would resonate with when her wedding photographer posted a video of the centerpieces on TikTok, and it gained 3.6 million views.
"I was being sent this video like, 'Is this you? This is you isn't it? Have you seen it yet?!'" she said. "In a world where not everybody is happy all the time, not everyone feels loved all the time, [people] were like, 'Wow, even the kids get it.'"
So while love means different things to different folks, for Mrs. Julia Merz, love is in her classroom.
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