Two love struck childhood sweethearts who were torn apart in their teens have finally tied the knot 70 years later. Ed Sellers a retired truck driver
Two love struck childhood sweethearts who were torn apart in their teens have finally tied the knot 70 years later. Ed Sellers a retired truck driver who is now 88, fell for Katie Smith, a former seamstress now 89, when she was aged 14 and her family moved into the house next door to his in the early 1940s.
He asked her out with a handwritten note and they courted for three years. Unfortunately, the relationship ended when Katie’s strict religious parents banned them from going on dates. Her family moved to another town and both met new partners and got married in 1946 respectively.
However, despite having no contact for seven decades, they never forgot each other. 70 years later after their individual spouses passed away, the long-lost lovers reconnected and over the course of 18 months, slowly rekindled their romance.
Last weekend, the two great grandparents tied the knot. The elderly lovebirds said their vows surrounded by family and friends in their seated position. According to Katie’s granddaughter, 35 year old Stefanie Helsel, the only reason their relationship ended all those years ago was because her parents were extremely strict.
“Ed wanted to take her to the movies but it absolutely wasn’t allowed. They ended it because it couldn’t progress. When they came back together it was natural. There was never any awkwardness. My grandmother said there was never a moment where it felt like there was ever any gap in time. She said it really feels as though everything has fallen into place. It is wonderful that they have found each other again.”
Ed was married to wife Dot for 67 years and had two sons, while Katie was married to husband Cecil, a war veteran, for 54 years and had three children. They say they were both in love but tragically in 2000, Cecil died of cancer and four years ago, Dot passed away from Alzheimer’s. It wasn’t until 2015 that grief-stricken Ed decided to track Katie down.
Katie Smith as a teenager
Ed Sellers as a teenager
He learned from her brother that she lived an hour away from their childhood home of Kannapolis, NC in Stanley, NC and so he drove there. When he arrived he found a phone book and called Katie’s number in a bid to reconnect with her for the first time in seven decades but she didn’t answer that day.
The hopeless romantic persisted and eventually Katie’s son picked up. Continuing, Stefanie, a nurse who has three children said, “He answered and said, ‘Do you know anyone called Ed Sellers?’
“My grandmother said, ‘The only Ed Sellers I know is from a long time ago and I haven’t heard from him in 70 years so I don’t know if it is him.’
“Ed said, ‘Tell her it’s me.’
“She agreed to talk to him and they talked for a while. He talked her into being with him and she agreed they would meet up. It started out as a real great friendship.”
For a year and a half, Ed would drive to see Katie twice a week but he would never stay over. Then, six months ago, Ed asked Katie if she’d marry him. She initially said no, anxious not to dishonour her late husband but Ed eventually won her over after they both agreed they were not trying to replace their previous partners but had found a new love. When she finally agreed, he got down on one knee and popped the question with a diamond ring.
Stefanie said: “She had to help him back up. He got stuck down there. He is 88 after all.”
Mirror UK
