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When Peter Hermann<\/strong> guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit<\/em> in 2002, Mariska Hargitay<\/strong><\/a> recalls she had a very strong reaction to meeting him: \u201cMy knees getting weak,\u201d she told Entertainment Tonight<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s so amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n Now the two will mark their 20th wedding anniversary on August 28. Mariska, 60, and Peter, 56, \u201cjust had to be together,\u201d a source exclusively tells Life & Style<\/em>, noting they attended a church service on their first date \u2014 where she sobbed after coming to the realization that he was The One. \u201cFor her, it was very overwhelming to realize that, at 40, she had finally found her soulmate.\u201d<\/p>\n Together, they have three children \u2014 August, 17, Amaya, 12, and Andrew, 12 \u2014 and watching them grow has \u201cerased many of my negative childhood feelings and filled them with something new,\u201d Mariska says of losing her own mother, Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield<\/a>, as a toddler. \u201cYou learn to feel grateful when you are exposed at such a young age to the fact that bad things can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1967, she was in a car accident that killed 34-year-old Jayne and left her with a long scar. \u201cAs tragic as her mom\u2019s death was, she had her dad (Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay), stepmom and stepsiblings,\u201d shares the source. \u201cMariska grew up in a stable home surrounded by love.\u201d<\/p>\nMariska Hargitay Overcame a Childhood Tragedy<\/h2>\n