Woman Says ‘Never Give Up on Love’ After Marrying Her Teenage Sweetheart Nearly 40 Years Later

Jun 22, 2026 by apost team

Most high school romances become little more than a memory. A few old photographs, a dance or two, and stories that get shared decades later. For Maretta Ross and Fred Ross, however, a teenage relationship that ended nearly 40 years ago eventually became something neither of them expected: a second chance.

The couple first met as teenagers at a skating rink in Pelham, Georgia. Although they attended rival South Georgia high schools, they quickly formed a connection.

“We met at the skating rink in Pelham, Ga. when we were like 15 years old,” Maretta recalled to WALB.

Their young romance included church picnics, homecoming dances, and the kind of innocent moments many people remember from their teenage years. But like so many young couples, they eventually drifted apart.

Life carried them in different directions. Maretta left home, went to college, got married, and built a life of her own. Fred also married and started a family. Years turned into decades, and neither expected their paths would ever cross again.

“I hadn’t seen him anywhere, even when I would return home,” Maretta said. “I left, went to college, got married. He got married. I never saw him again in the store when visiting home.”

After 30 years of marriage, Maretta eventually found herself facing an entirely new chapter following her divorce. The prospect of finding love again was not something she was actively pursuing.

In fact, she had largely convinced herself that marriage was behind her.

Meanwhile, Fred had never completely forgotten the girl he once dated as a teenager. Nearly four decades after they first met, he decided to take a chance and reach out to her through Facebook, setting in motion a reunion neither of them saw coming. 

When Fred’s message arrived, Maretta wasn’t immediately sure what to do. While Fred had been divorced for years, her own divorce still felt relatively recent, and reconnecting with someone she had not seen in decades felt like a leap into the unknown.

“He had been divorced a lot longer than me,” she explained to WALB.

“I had been divorced for like six years, so it was still kind of new.”

Unsure what kind of person her former boyfriend had become, she turned to someone who knew him well. Maretta reached out to Fred’s longtime friend, Todd West, hoping to learn a little more before deciding whether to reconnect.

“I reached out to Todd, and I said, ‘Should I give him my number? What is he like now? I don’t know him anymore,’ “ she recalled.

Eventually, she took the chance. About an hour after receiving her number, Fred called. What followed was a conversation that neither of them wanted to end.

From that point forward, they “never really stopped” talking. When they finally met again in person, the connection felt natural. Years of life experience had changed them, but the comfort between them remained.

“It was wonderful,” Maretta said.

“We just talked and talked and talked and talked, just really got to know one another once again.”

Today, the couple is preparing to celebrate their third wedding anniversary. Looking back, Fred summed up their story simply. “We went our separate ways, but made it back to one another.”

For Maretta, their reunion has reinforced a lesson she now shares with others who may think their chance at love has passed. “Good things come to those who wait,” she said.

“Be kind to everyone because you don’t know when you’ll see them again.”

And after finding her way back to her teenage sweetheart nearly 40 years later, she offers one final piece of advice:

“Never give up on love. Because you just never know.”

apost.com

Do you believe some people are meant to find their way back to each other? Have you ever reconnected with someone from your past years later? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family and friends out there!