Giorgi Berejiani’s dog, Jorge, went missing from his home in Tbilisi, Georgia, three years ago. He looked all over for his best friend. And as the days turned to months and the months turned to years, he never gave up hope.

But all of his efforts would finally pay off. Staffers at a business in town spotted a stray who fit the description of Jorge and contacted Giorgi right away just in case. The dog had been tagged by the city to indicate he was a stray, but they were pretty sure it was him.

Giorgi rushed to the spot to check and approached the dog lying by the tree. In the video below, you’ll hear the man call the dog’s name. The dog then proceeds to cry tears of joy, and right then and there Giorgi knew it was really him.

Three years later, and they were finally reunited. Emotions poured out from the both of them, and you can tell they were equally happy to be together again.

“I’m so glad,” Giorgi told The Dodo. “I have never seen him so happy.”

In that moment, both of their broken hearts were healed. No one knows how the dog survived for so long on the streets by himself, but maybe he also was sustained by the hope that he’d reunite with his owner one day.