They Parted In 1954, Found Each Other At Age 70

This Is True Love Story

JOYCE RITCHIE AND BOB COLLINS were wed at age 70 -- 52 years after the friends since childhood broke up when he joined the Air Force in 1954. (HANDOUT / June 3, 2008)

On today's date two years ago, Joyce Ritchie pulled into a driveway in Atlanta to see a childhood playmate."She stood there looking at me," Bob Collins said. "First I walked toward her. Then I ran. We threw our arms around each other. I kissed her. She kissed me. It was the first time we'd laid eyes on each other in 52 years. We found each other finally. This is the person I've always been in love with. I never realized how much I missed her.""I met Joyce in fourth grade. I was new to the school," in Hanover, Mass., Bob said. "I said to one of my classmates, 'Hey, she's pretty.' I would go and visit her at her house. I would cut through the woods. When I was older, I rode my bike.""He'd have one or two of his buddies with him," Joyce said. "I remember him being cute. My heart would pound a little bit" when he was around. "I was not allowed to go anywhere. I had no brothers or sisters. He taught me how to whistle through my teeth."
In seventh grade, Bob, also an only child, simply disappeared, Joyce said.He was sent to military school in Pennsylvania. In Bob's senior year of high school, he was invited to a Christmas party in Hanover. "I stepped out into the kitchen, and there she was.""Joyce!""Bob!"They were thrilled to see each other and corresponded by mail when he returned to school. Bob graduated and returned to Hanover for Joyce's prom and graduation. "My father allowed him to stay at our house," a huge concession, Joyce said."Her Dad was tough," Bob said. "He was from Nova Scotia. But my great-grandparents were from Nova Scotia, too." Bob and Joyce dated a few months until he went into the Air Force in 1954.Bob broke up with Joyce just before he went into the service."I was going to be gone. I didn't know how things were going to turn out," Bob said. He was sent to Air Police School, where he became an instructor before being sent to Korea.Bob was assigned to be a dog handler. "I was scared to death of dogs because I was bitten by a dog as a kid," he said. Bob survived his year patrolling his air base at night with his dog."When he broke us up, I went to Burdette College in Boston," Joyce said. She earned her associate degree in accounting and worked in the city. In 1957, she married and later had two daughters.Bob returned to Whitman, Mass., where his mother was living, in late fall 1955. He spent his six-week leave working in a factory part time, married a woman he met during that interim and left the service. They had a daughter and son, but the marriage didn't last."I missed the service and re-enlisted at Otis Air Force Base in 1957," Bob said. He had two more sons through a marriage that lasted 35 years until his wife died. Two years later, he married and moved to Connecticut, but his wife also died within four years.In 2004, Joyce's high school had a 50th reunion, but "I couldn't go," Joyce said. She was divorced and had moved to a small farm in Tennessee with a man she had met after her daughters were grown. She picked up the phone one day in 2005 and heard a man say, "Hello, this is Bob.""Bob who?" Joyce said."Bob Collins.""I didn't know if he was dead or alive" until that moment, Joyce said. Joyce's classmate and Bob's fourth-grade buddy Karl Jokinen had contacted Bob after the reunion and sent him Joyce's address from the alumni directory. Bob called Joyce again in April 2006. Her partner had died, and she was living alone on the farm. Bob was flying to Atlanta to visit his daughter and said he'd like to see Joyce. Joyce said she'd drive over to meet him on June 8."I was bowled over," Joyce said, when she saw him. "He was still the same sweet guy. He's always been very compassionate. He has always been special to me. … He was my first love.""As soon as I saw her, I knew that day I didn't ever want to be apart from her again," Bob said.He drove back to Tennessee with Joyce and within a week said, "Would you marry me?""In a heartbeat," Joyce said.When Joyce told her daughters she was getting married, they said, "What? After four days?" Good friends in Tennessee warned Joyce that people change over the years.But at age 70, Joyce and Bob had no doubts. They were married on July 15, 2006, in Tennessee. Joyce sold the farm and moved to Coventry with Bob. They do cardio-aerobics at a fitness center several times a week, travel and exude the bliss they always found in each other's presence."I think our hearts met a long time ago," Joyce said."We're as close as two people can possibly be," Bob says. "She's the light of my life."

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