High School Sweethearts Separated By Racist Laws, Reunite And Get Married Over 45 Years Later

Howard Andrew Foster and Myra Clark started dating each other when the two of them were mere kids in high school. What could they probably know about true love? However, they did know that even though they were madly in love with each other, they were engaged in a time where interracial mixing was frowned upon by society. Howard is of African descent and Myra is a caucasian. But, you know what they say. When it's true, life will find a way to make it happen. And, nearly five decades later, Howard and Myra have reunited and Howard is positive that nothing can break them apart, according to The Washington Times.

It was nothing but the racism that broke them apart all those years ago.  After many decades, the two of them reunited at Sharon Woods Metro Park in the fall of 2013. They held hands across a picnic table and talked with much joy and laughter... it was as if they'd never been apart. “It was that dream you just never thought would come true … there she was,” Howard said. They first started dating in high school and clicked instantly.  

In 1967, the Supreme Court case Loving vs. Virginia made interracial marriages legal after the interracial couple sued Virginia for its laws prohibiting marriages like theirs.  Now, interracial couples, marriages, and relationships are more common today in the United States. Much more than it ever was. Marriages between people of different races reached a record high of 8.4 percent in 2010, according to CNN. 

When Howard was in college, he had no idea of the consequences of their relationship in each other's lives. For starters, he was, at that time, the only black person who studied at Columbus Technical Institute (now Columbus State Community College) and he recalled experiencing numerous instances of racism from his professors. But, all he could think of at that time was his love for Myra, but her concern for her life was greater than his desire to be with her, so he decided to end their relationship. 

The couple recalls that they had to constantly deal with unwanted and unwarranted looks from others when they spent time together. Things have changed now, and for that, Howard just couldn't be happier.  He admitted that he was afraid that Myra would eventually get sick and tired of dealing with the stares, so he felt it wasn't fair on his part to keep the relationship going. This is something Myra remembers, too. After a tearful goodbye, they separated shortly after graduation and began living their own lives. 

They never forgot each other, though they had their families. They both got married to different people and started separate families but both their respective spouses passed away due to old age and sickness. In 2013, they met again. Myra was working at Mount Carmel Hospital, where she met a nurse whose daughter was married to Foster's son. They then came together on the Labor Day weekend of 2013. 

When they met one another, it was just like how they felt when they saw each other for the first time. There were sparks flying everywhere and it was definitely love at first sight, again.  They got engaged soon after and got married on August 1st, 2015, almost half a century on from their first date over who are meant to be together finding a way to make it happen.