TRUE LOVE WAITS: After 40 years, high school sweethearts reconnect in the Queen City

Aug. 1—Rhonda Porterfield waited patiently at Union Station in Meridian Sunday evening, holding a handmade cardboard sign reading "The longer the wait, the sweeter the kiss."

Forty years had passed since she'd seen Pat Garrett, and when he stepped off the train, Porterfield embraced her high school sweetheart like it was yesterday.

"I'm just super excited, I mean, we're both giddy about this," Porterfield said last week. "It feels like we're young again, and it's really hard to put into words because it does."

Porterfield and Garrett, both in their late 50's, dated in high school in Texas. But Garrett moved away to attend military school, eventually settling in Augusta, Georgia.

Porterfield remained in Texas, working in sales and as a paraprofessional in special education classes.

Despite the distance, the friends stayed connected through the years.

"We've been friends on Facebook for several years," Porterfield recalled. "We stayed connected by reaching out to each other on holidays, so it just went from there."

"We've been talking the whole month of June, and then we started planning this trip, and we've been counting down the days for a month now," she added.

The train route from Georgia didn't extend to Texas, so the friends decided to meet in Meridian.

"It was always a good time with her"

The two, who attended different high schools, can't pinpoint the exact moment they met, but Porterfield remembers the fun times they had together as teenagers.

"We had a good time because of the chemistry we had back then," Garrett recalled. "Whether it was going water skiing, going on boating adventures or to cookouts, it was always a good time with her."

A military veteran, Garrett — a descendant of Pat Garrett, the Old West lawman known for killing Billy the Kid — is active in civic organizations such as The American Legion and as a member of the executive committee of his local VA Hospital.

After leaving Meridian Sunday, the friends headed back to Queen City, Texas, where they planned to spend the week catching up, while looking ahead.

"I'm excited about meeting her again," Garrett said last week. "Reconnecting with somebody from my childhood who I had fond memories with is a great feeling."