50 Years After They First Met, Minneapolis Man, Steve Rydberg, Surprises Wife, Kristine Hess, At A McDonald's

To surprise his wife on her birthday, a Minneapolis man waxed nostalgic -- and served it up with a lot of love and a side of french fries, KARE 11 News reports.

When Steve Rydberg was 16, he flipped burgers at a local McDonald's in Crystal, Minn. It was the 1960s.

While working the grill at the back, Rydberg and his co-workers developed a system which allowed them to find out when a pretty girl arrived at the restaurant. The number "13" was the cue, followed by the register number where the young woman was ordering.

"'Thirteen on six, 13 on five' and we mixed it in, like, 'I need 12 burgers on a 13 on two,'" Steve told the news channel.

One day, in walked 16-year-old Kristine Hess. "I thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world," he said.

According to Good News Network, the two quickly became high school sweethearts but when Rydberg left for college, the couple drifted apart.

Years later, after raising a family and getting divorced, Rydberg called his old girlfriend. "It was like I never left her," he told WTSP.com. Soon, they were married.

Last Wednesday, Rydberg decided to surprise his wife on her birthday by bringing her back to those first days of young romance.

Donning an apron and taking his place behind the grill at the McDonald's where he had first met the love of his life, Rydberg waited for Hess -- who thought she was meeting her sister-in-law -- to arrive.

When Hess walked in and put in her order, the young man behind the counter shouted: "13 on two."

When Rydberg walked out of the kitchen, his wife's order in her hand, she giggled and blushed -- bestowing him with a kiss and a hug, the food on the tray forgotten.