Childhood sweethearts banned from dating reunite 70 years later
Ed Sellers and Katie Smith were just 14 and 15 years old respectively when they first met in North Carolina in the 1940s. For the next three years, the next-door neighbours traded love letters, went on chaperoned dates and fell in love.
Then, suddenly, Katie’s parents stepped in and banned their daughter from ever seeing Ed again. They moved away and Katie, now 89, and Ed, now 88, remained separated for almost seven decades.
During that time, they lived completely separate – yet happy – lives, marrying other people and having children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Sadly, Katie’s husband died 17 years ago, after a battle with cancer. Ed lost his wife to Alzheimer’s four years ago.
Finally, after years of thinking about her, Ed plucked up the courage to give his old flame a call about a year and a half ago. “I came and got her number out of the phone book and started calling and she wouldn’t answer for a while,” Ed told ABC News.
Eventually, she did pick up, and they began a routine of regular phone conversations. Their chats were going well, so one day, Ed drove 45 minutes to see Katie in person, and they picked up where they left off. It was as if a single day had never even passed.
“They hit it off and they rekindled a friendship and the friendship grew to seem like they hadn’t even been apart,” Katie’s granddaughter Stefanie Helsel said. “He probably asked her for six months to marry him and she finally agreed. He tells the story that he doesn’t have enough fingers and toes to count the times he asked.”
Now, they’re finally together, having tied the knot in a sweet ceremony – in rocking chairs, no less. The couple both honoured their late spouses by displaying their photos during the nuptials. “They’re not trying to replace them,” Helsel said. “They’re just happy to have a companion and comfort in the last years of their lives.”
How sweet! Tell us in the comments below, how did you meet your partner or spouse?
Image credit: Stefanie Helsel and Shakermickel Photography.