Mar 3

1950s Teens Reignite Their Romance Six Decades Later

Two teenagers who were high school sweethearts in the 1950s broke up after a few years and didn't see each other until a little over a year ago. Now, Caroline Reeves and Eddie Lamm are married - 63 years after they first met.

Eddie Lamm and Caroline Reeves as teenagers in 1950s — Eddie Lamm and Caroline Reeves

Back in 1956, Elvis was on the jukebox and President Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the White House - while Reeves and Lamm were in love. Lamm had dreams of flying planes in the U.S. Air Force. It was Reeves' senior year in high school and he couldn't find the words to say a proper goodbye, so he didn't. He just took off, literally.

Their lives then followed very different paths. She became Miss Nashville 1959. Two years later, in 1961, they each got married to different people. Lamm went on to serve 21 years in the U.S. Air Force. Reeves travelled the world, was an interior designer, and wrote three novels.

In 2021, their respective spouses sadly died. In 2022, when Lamm was living in California and Reeves was in Nashville, Lamm told CBS News: "All at once something hits me. I said, 'I've got to call her.'" He tried nine times before finally reaching her.

Reeves picks up the story: "After the second day, it was comfortable. It was natural. By the third day, that third night, he told me he still loved me. And I knew my life had changed. And then the next morning, he calls and he says, 'I apologize for being so forward last night.'"

But his confession of love was what Reeves wanted to hear, and Lamm flew to Nashville to see her. After he arrived, he waited five days before asking her to move with him to California. Three months later, at the age of 84, he popped the question.

He had planned to give her his mother's ring, but Reeves said it was too precious and should be saved for one of his grandchildren. Instead, she wanted his high school class ring, and he put it on her finger.

She called it "miraculous" that they found their love again.