Oh, true love. Even if you havenโt experienced it yourself, it can be seen in a gazillion movies and is something most people dream of having in their lives.
The story below is not only a perfect example that true love really does exist โ but it sounds like it came straight from a romance film!
One Ohio couple is showing that love endures the test of time. Bob Harvey and Annette Callahan married 63 years after they graduated from high school.
It all began in 1956 at a high school dance.
Bob and Annette, on the other hand, were not each otherโs dates.
Annette had transferred from Pikeville, Kentucky to Gar-Field High School in Woodbridge, Virginia. Bob was head over heels in love.
Annette admitted that she was trembling because she didnโt know how to dance, but Bob led the way.
Following that, the two began dating regularly and fell madly in love.
โWhen she came into the study hall, and I saw her for the very first time, she was the most beautiful woman โ which she still is today โ that I have ever seen in my life,โ Bob told WBNS-TV.
When Annette was sent to live in Kentucky after high school, the couple went their separate ways.
Annette married John in 1961 and Bob married Diane in 1959.
The Callahans were the parents of four children, eleven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
There were two children, three grandchildren, and one great-grandchild for the Harveys.
They lived full lives, but in recent years, both became caregivers for their spouses.
John, Annetteโs husband, battled dementia for seven years. Diane, Bobโs wife, fought cancer for an even longer time.
Bob remembered that first dance for the rest of his life.
โThis woman whoโd been gentle on my mind became an obsessive on my mind,โ he said.
Then Bob discovered Annette was a widow, as was he. Sheโd lost her husband four years earlier.
He sent her a condolence card that read more like a love letter than a consolation.
โDear Annette, life is a journey of sweetness and sorrow, of yesterdayโs memories, of hopes for tomorrow,โ the card read.
Just over a week later, Annette decided to pick up the phone and call him.
โWhen I said, โBob, this is Annette,โ he just choked up, and I said, โI know itโs surprising that Iโm calling you,โ or something, and finally he got his voice and could talk to me,โ Annette expressed.
The next day, Bob drove for 12 hours from his home in Virginia to Annetteโs Ohio home and delivered flowers to her.
โI took her face in my hands. Iโve got to do this for you,โ he said. โLike this, I said, โI love you, youโre beautiful, and Iโm going to kiss you whether you want me to or not.โ And we kissed, and Iโm serious on this, 60 years disappeared. Poof.โ
They were engaged one month later and they married a few months after that.
Pastor David Redding officiated at the coupleโs wedding. In a historic chapel at Central College Presbyterian Church in Westerville โ Callahanโs church, they said their โI doโs.โ
A kiss and, of course, a dance were exchanged to mark the occasion.
It was Annetteโs first dance since she and Bob split up all those years ago.
On their wedding day, the two made several references to their former spouses and the signs that they had blessed the new relationship.
They also attribute their reunion to a higher power.
โWe both feel the Lord is instrumental in getting us back together.โ
Itโs a romantic story that sounds like it could be a plot for a movie. Watch the video below to see an interview with the two lovebirds!
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Sources: WBNS-TV, YouTube โ WSLS 10
