Two old high school sweethearts have reunited 73 years after their separation, but it seems that absence really makes the love grow deeper.
Joanne Blakkan, 92, and Bill Hassinger, 90, met when they were teenagers riding the school bus to Michigan. North Muskegon High School.
The pair became increasingly fond of each other on their daily commute and became first loves, but eventually went ‘separate ways’.
The former couple continued with their lives, getting married and having their own families, until reuniting in 2022.
Joanne Blakkan, 92, and Bill Hassinger, 90, met when they were teenagers riding the school bus to North Muskegon High School in Michigan.
The former couple continued with their lives, getting married and starting their own family, until reuniting in 2022.
Joanne said Fox about how the couple had met when she was a junior at the time and Bill was a freshman, as she joked, “I was robbing the crib.”
‘(We) became more and more attracted to each other and then the next year it was all serious. YoIn those days, you called it “being in a stable relationship,” he said.
Bill accompanied Joanne to her graduation party in 1949 before she left to study secretarial education at Michigan State.
She returned to visit on weekends and the couple had regular dates, including roller skating.
“But gradually, I met the young man who became my husband and (Bill) was dating a young woman in high school, and we just went our separate ways,” Joanne shared.
The couple moved on with their lives after finding new partners.
Bill married a woman who was a year younger than him, just six months after she graduated from high school.
He then enlisted in the U.S. Army before working for the state police and moving to various locations in Michigan with his family for more than three decades.
The couple (pictured in high school) became increasingly fond of each other on their daily commute to school and eventually became each other’s first loves.
Bill accompanied Joanne to her graduation party in 1949 (pictured) before she left to study secretarial science at Michigan State.
Joanne and Bill had not seen each other in more than seven decades until their daughter began tracking down some of her former classmates in the fall of 2022.
Bill and his wife welcomed three children: two sons, who died tragically in infancy, and a daughter.
The couple was married for 68 years before Bill’s wife passed away.
Joanne also built a happy home for herself after getting married two years into college and welcoming three children.
The couple were married until her husband died of a heart attack aged 57, while she insisted: ‘I have been a widow for a long, long time. (I had) no interest in dating or anything like that.’
Joanne and Bill had not seen each other in more than seven decades until their daughter began tracking down some of her former classmates in the fall of 2022.
Joanne was encouraged by her loving daughter to write a letter to Bill after discovering he lived just 80 miles away.
And, just a few days later, he received a call from his high school girlfriend during which they agreed to meet.
‘I hadn’t heard from her in all these years and I didn’t know her condition or anything like that. But she was still the same Joanne to me and I fell in love with her again,” Bill said.
Joanne candidly explained that she had been apprehensive about getting into a new relationship, but eventually changed her mind.
The couple still lives 80 miles apart, but visit each other every other weekend and on special occasions like Valentine’s Day.
‘I hadn’t heard from her in all these years and I didn’t know her condition or anything like that. But she was still the same Joanne to me and I fell in love with her all over again,” Bill said.
Joanne candidly explained that she had been apprehensive about getting into a new relationship, but eventually changed her mind.
‘If you have love for each other, then spend time together because life is short and we realize that now.
“At our age, we don’t know how much time we have together, but we’re making the most of every day,” he told the outlet.
The couple still lives 80 miles apart, but visit each other every other weekend and on special occasions like Valentine’s Day.
Bill said Joanne’s family had welcomed him with open arms.
In addition to their relationship, another thing that resurfaced was Bill’s gift to Joanne: a bracelet adorned with white and green gems that he gave her more than seven decades ago.
Joanne confessed: ‘I think our feelings are stronger now than then. If love is there, go ahead
Bill shared with Washington Post that meeting “was like old times: (they) just got to the point.”
Joanne agreed, saying, “The feelings came back very quickly.”
And he added: ‘We mix very well. I like everything about her. It just seems natural to me. The only thing that is certain is that we will be together. She wouldn’t have it any other way.’
She confessed: ‘I think our feelings are stronger now than then. If love is there, go for it.”
In addition to their relationship, another thing that resurfaced was Bill’s gift to Joanne: a bracelet adorned with white and green gems that he gave her more than seven decades ago.
She had kept the sentimental gift safe in her jewelry box and said “it was too pretty to get rid of.”