Annette Callahan was the new girl in town, and naturally all eyes were on her from the moment she walked in on the first day of school. All eyes, including those of Bob Harvey. The pair’s love story started all the way back in 1955, when they had a short but intensely romantic relationship during their junior year in high school.
Discover our latest podcast
A long distance relationship
Unfortunately, like most high school relationships, this too was short lived as their connection failed to withstand a summer apart. Annette had gone off to Miami to visit her uncle and aunt, while Bob was tirelessly worked so that he could earn enough money for long distance calls. Eventually, he ran out of money, the calls stopped, and Annette moved on with someone new.
When she returned to Virginia, she broke the news to Bob, who on the contrary was dying to be reunited with her. She told People:
I look back on that and think that was just terrible, it was so cold and blunt.
But I didn’t want to lead him on if I didn’t think I really loved him. His face really dropped when I told him I don’t want to date you anymore, but he didn’t say anything. He just turned and walked away.
Moving on
Heartbroken, Bob had no other option but to submit to his fate and move on. Annette continued dating the boy she had met in Miami, John Callahan, and even married him in 1961. Bob too met someone during his senior year of high school and married her in 1959.
Fast forward to 2018, Harvey’s wife tragically passed away and he was also diagnosed with blood cancer in the same year. Given that his life was turned upside down, he thought hard about how he wanted to spend the rest of it and one person kept popping up in his mind. He added:
The lady who had been gentle on my mind for six decades became heavy, heavy, heavy.
Reconnecting
In 2019, he found out that Annette had been a widow for the past four years as well. He decided to reach out to her and when he did, Annette was overjoyed. She said:
I had really been trying to find him for about two years.
But I didn’t know where he was. I’d really been praying that god would help me find him again.
Once they reconnected, everything else was history. They got engaged in August, had a small wedding on 19 October, and finally continued their high school romance after a 63-year hiatus.
