Teenage Sweethearts to Reunite 70 Years Later
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Despite the passing of decades, the emergence of other loves and thousands of miles between them, Betty Hove, 85, and John Grosch, 87, never forgot each other.
The teenage sweethearts, who lost track of each other after Grosch enlisted in the Navy during World War II, will meet again Sunday, just in time for Valentine’s Day.
“I never got over this guy. He was always tucked away in the corner of my heart,” Hove told ABC affiliate KXLY-TV in Sacramento, Calif.
The two met when Grosch was working at a California grocery store.
But World War II cut their romance short. All Hove had was a name, no address. She didn’t even know if Grosch survived the war.
She was married twice and widowed a few years ago. And through the years, she never forgot her first love.
A friend searched online for Hove’s sweetheart and found him living in Georgia.
Hove sent him a Christmas card. He called her on New Year’s Day and the two arranged to meet in Georgia.
“How am I going to get close enough to hug and kiss her?” Grosch said. “It’s impossible to believe it, but I know I am!”
Even though many years have passed, the two love birds are looking forward to revving up their romance once again.
“He was just so sweet,” Hove said. “They don’t make them like him anymore.”
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Reunite for what? I doubt if they can even recall the same things the same way. They cannot regain their youth that way.
Posted by: AlnHouston | February 11, 2012, 1:26 pm 1:26 pm
these two seniors are fooling themselves…they want more than anything else in the world is company. love is being used so loosely in this story. they hardly knew each other as young people and they’ve both changed a lot in the meanwhile. old people want company and someone pleasant to be with….that is not love.
Posted by: kathy | February 11, 2012, 1:40 pm 1:40 pm
Perhaps the two of you are right. But isn’t it nice to believe that once someone has been a part of your heart and soul, even if it was a very long time ago, that those feelings can once again surface when the time is right? Finding someone compatible is still a good thing, even if only for affection and company. Maybe it’s just a little different kind of “love”. I think this is a nice story just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Posted by: Joyce | February 11, 2012, 2:01 pm 2:01 pm
Why not wish them well, and maybe even happiness? They have experiences to share and talk about, and who made you two experts in what “love” is? Each person holds their own definition, and it has many, many meanings. Judgmental people sound bitter and sad. Too bad you don’t understand that love also means honestly wishing the best for our fellow humans. What is joy to one may not mean a thing to another. I wish them both happiness in their reunion!
Posted by: Erin | February 11, 2012, 2:03 pm 2:03 pm
If it doesn’t add years to their lives it may add life to their years so why not? People do change but how knows, they may have changed in the same direction. Nothing to lose by trying.
My mother-in-law was 80 when she found a romance with an eighty five year old man in assisted living. Why not?
As for me, I see my highschool sweetheart all the time. I married her, 36 years ago.
Posted by: oonogil7 | February 11, 2012, 2:12 pm 2:12 pm
Thanks a lot Obama! This is all his fault!
Posted by: Gerald | February 11, 2012, 2:34 pm 2:34 pm
How unsettling. What if, many years from now, I’m a little old man tooling away in my workshop happy as can be and I end up hunted down by a former girlfriend?
Posted by: Ed | February 11, 2012, 2:38 pm 2:38 pm
One Saturday morning, when I was in college (Fall of 1967), I drove down to campus because I heard that Robert F Kennedy was going to be in town, making a brief stop. During the many hours that I waited, I met and shared the time with another student named, Alice. My name is Allan and I wondered if anyone ever called her Al (like they did me)? She said, yes… we talked and talked.
When I was ready to give up, thinking RFK was not coming, I had an idea: to call the local newspaper and ask them… I did just that and they told me he was in town – just running late. As I walked out of the store, heading across the street to tell Alice what I had learned, we were both moved by the push of the huge crowd – we had no choice but to go with the flow. We were pushed right up to the car containing RFK. He was standing in a convertible speaking to us.
Alice was shorter than I and couldn’t see or touch RFK. I lifted her up in front of me so that she had a great view and could shake hands with him…… In just a few minutes, he was finished talking and the car began to move away… he was gone. We spent the rest of the day together, went for coffee / hot chocolate… I walked her to the parking structure – it felt like we were very close… We said goodbye and as I was driving home, I realized that I had not asked for her phone number! I knew her first name, what street she lived on and that she was a student at WSU in Detroit.
A few months later, RFK was killed and I would have given ANYTHING to be able to talk with her, again. I have never forgotten her and although we would be in our 60′s, now, it would mean so much to see her again. In fact, I am writing all this in hopes she or someone she knows will read it. ANYONE that is a close friend of Alice’s, no doubt has heard this story…
Posted by: ajkrueger1947 | February 11, 2012, 3:45 pm 3:45 pm
Good luck ED, It’s amazing how people can touch our lives in so many ways, in just a fleeting instance.
Posted by: onlyanegg | February 11, 2012, 3:59 pm 3:59 pm
Awwww…. It’s Peggy Carter and Steve Roger(Capt. America) reuniting again! *creys fangirl tears* Steve and Pegg!!!
Posted by: StarSpangled Girl | February 11, 2012, 7:51 pm 7:51 pm
Good luck on that, folks! After 40 years, I met up with my first love, who turned out to be a lying, manipulating, lazy, non-taxpaying, drunken bully. Rue the day we re-met, rejoice the day I shut the door on his way out.
Posted by: Idunnogal | February 11, 2012, 9:43 pm 9:43 pm
This is how the Capt. America movie should have ended: Steve and Peggy meeting once again.
Posted by: StarSpangled Girl | February 12, 2012, 1:33 am 1:33 am