Older Man Starts Crying After Recognizing Sweetheart He Lost 50 Years Ago Digging Through Dumpster – Story of the Day

Circumstances lead two high school sweethearts never to meet again. One day, 50 years later, the man bursts into tears after recognizing his beloved he had lost foraging for food in a dumpster.

Behind every unsuccessful love story are untold tales of pain, heartbreak, and an unfulfilled desire to unite in life. But 68-year-old Richard's love story is a little more than that. He closed his teary eyes and sank into his pillow, thinking about his sweetheart, Iris.

"It's been 50 years since I last saw you, darling. I am still not able to forget you. Where did you leave me and go? You had promised to come for me, but you never did. You never wrote to me after that."

Richard was still a bachelor and desperately waited for his high school sweetheart, Iris, who he last saw while kissing her goodbye at the airport in 1972. It had been 50 exhausting years since then. Iris never returned, but Richard did not lose hope. Somewhere in his heart, he still had hopes of meeting her.

But why did Iris stop writing letters to Richard all of a sudden? They were madly in love, but what led her to forget him? Did she betray him, or was it something else poor Richard could never imagine?

Richard and Iris met in their junior year of high school in the late 1960s. When they first sat next to each other, they didn't interpret they would soon flip over a new chapter called 'love' in their lives.

Iris fell head over heels in love with Richard's sense of humor and dimpled smile. Richard, too, reciprocated Iris's feelings for him because he knew she was the one.

"Darling, where were you all these years? I was looking for you everywhere but could not find you. What happened to you?"

What started as friendship soon sparked into a classic love story. Richard would cycle early to school to meet his girlfriend and spend time with her. They went to Sunday school together, met every evening in the park under the pretext of walking their dogs, and made every little effort to celebrate their fairytale love.

One could easily make out that the pair was madly in love. Soon, things started getting intense when Richard and Iris planned their future together after sharing a passionate kiss on Valentine's Day, 1972, outside Iris's house while nobody watched.

"I love you!" said Richard, going down to his knee dramatically with Iris's favorite red roses in his hand. "Will you be mine?"

At first, the couple shared a hearty laugh. Iris accepted his bouquet but could not smile further. She painfully revealed about moving to another state with her parents because of her father's job.

"I tried convincing my parents to put me in the boarding in our school until I finish my exams and then send me to a local college here. But they want me to go with them. I am so upset and will miss you," sobbed Iris.

Richard was crushed and had a plan to unite with her again in the other state she was relocating to.

"It doesn't matter if you can't stay here. I can come to you, can't I?!" he laughed. "I will join the college that you are going to. And nothing can separate us again."

Iris sighed with relief, and they planned to go to the same college. But fate? Well, something they never imagined was in store for them.

With just three months left for their senior year exams, Iris moved to another state with her parents, promising to write letters to Richard. It was the only way they kept in touch.

A week later, following Valentine's Day, 1972, Richard went to the airport to see his girlfriend and kiss her goodbye. It was a tear-jerking moment for both of them. They hugged and kissed, promising each other they would soon meet. But who knew this would be their last meeting, and they would never see each other for the next 50 years?

A few days after parting, Richard got his first letter from Iris. He was so delighted and kept reading what she had written word to word over a hundred times. He told his parents about his plans to marry Iris after graduation. Luckily, they were supportive.

Days passed, and Richard kept getting more letters from Iris. Six months vanished like thin air before he knew it, and soon, it was time to join the college in the other state where Iris lived.

Richard's heart started to race to meet his girlfriend. These six months seemed like six decades without her. He flew to the state she lived and could not wait to go to college and reunite with her.

"Iris, my love, I'm coming for you," he mumbled while taxiing to the college. Before entering his class, Richard anxiously looked for Iris's name on the noticeboard. But her name was not there.

He assumed there could've been some mistake and entered his class, hoping to see her there because they had planned to pursue the same major. Unfortunately, Iris did not show up, and the attendance was already over.

Heartbroken and disappointed, Richard went to all the first-year classrooms to see if Iris was there somewhere. But she was not. Richard did not lose hope and rode to her address.

"Yes, how may I help you?" an older woman answered Richard, who stood restlessly at the doorstep. He peeped inside, but Iris was not there, and the woman was not related to her because he knew her parents well.

"I am Iris's friend, and I came to see her. Is she inside? Can I please meet her?" he asked, worried.

The woman frowned and told him nobody with the name Iris lived there.

"But I used to get letters from her, which were posted from this address. It's been a month since she wrote to me. Please, I know she is in there."

The woman pitied Richard and told him they were new to the place. "I think the person you want to meet must have lived here before. We bought this house a month ago," she said.

"Do you know where the family has moved?" he asked her, tears rising in his eyes.

"No, I am sorry, but I don't know them. My husband might have known, but he passed away two weeks ago. I am not sure if I can help you, young man."

The woman did not have further details to share and sent a disappointed Richard away.

Richard could not focus on his studies. He kept looking for Iris everywhere but unsucceeded in finding her. He even called his parents and asked them to check her old house in their hometown. His heartbreak doubled when they informed him that Iris's house had been unlived and locked for a long time.

"Where did she go? God, how will I find her?" he cried.

Poor Richard spent several months torn between finding Iris and concentrating on his degree. One day when he least expected it, he got a mail from Iris's parents. He kept reading it repeatedly a hundred times, and every time, his heart pounded faster, willing to stop beating. It read:

"Dear Richard, We are sorry, our daughter Iris was sick for the past few months and died last week. It would be best if you didn't come looking for her. Goodbye."

It did not add up to Richard. A part of him died reading this letter, but the other part refused to accept what was written. He wrote back to Iris's parents for details, but they never responded. He even tracked down their address and went there, only to find it locked and unlived.

"Iris, what happened to you? Where are you?" he cried on the doorstep.

Richard could not move on completely from the trauma but pulled himself together to do it. He graduated, found a job, and moved on in life. Fifty years had passed, but he still was not entirely out of his heartbreak.

A lot had changed in these five decades, but Richard's love for Iris remained immortal. He never married anyone and chose to stay single. One day, he moved back to his hometown and decided to visit the old house where Iris once lived.

"

.This is where I kissed you on Valentine's Day," he sobbed, standing on the spot outside her balcony. The house was deserted. It appeared as though it was haunted by classic memories of Richard and Iris's laughter, their secret meetings, and passionate kisses.

Knowing he would not find anyone there, Richard went to the doorstep and peeped into the abandoned house. He hoped Iris would answer his knocks on the door. It was like a daydream, one that would never happen in reality.

Richard walked away to the street, sobbing when he saw an older woman digging through a dumpster across the road. Beyond her wrinkles, dirt, and grey hair, Richard could still recognize that face. It was Iris.

"IRIS?! My love..." he cried and ran to her. "Iris...God, am I still alive to see her like this?"

Iris stopped whatever she was doing and turned around, tearing up. She could still recognize that voice and stood frozen on the pavement. "RICHARD?!" she cried, falling.

Richard knelt beside her and cried for a very long time, holding her.

"Darling, where were you all these years? I was looking for you everywhere but could not find you. What happened to you?" cried Richard. Then, he heard the momentous truth unfold that broke his heart.

"My parents saw us kissing on Valentine's Day and learned of our relationship," Iris disclosed.

"What happened then?" asked Richard, curious to piece together the 50 years they had lost...

"We relocated to the other state, and I was almost about to enroll in college when they caught me sending letters to you. They discovered our plans to meet in college and hurriedly took me to another state."

It turned out that Iris's parents had always disapproved of her relationship with Richard. They discontinued her senior year and relocated to a different state, assuming it would end her relationship with him. But after learning of their plans to reconcile in college, they moved from there and forbade Iris from writing to Richard again.

"I sent you letters secretly after that, but my parents somehow found out and prevented them from being posted," Iris sobbed. "Several years later, they died. I wanted to reach out to you, but I lost your address. I could not track you down in your college because you had already graduated and moved out."

Richard's heart sank the more he heard...

"Then, I returned to this town, wishing we would meet someday. I even went to your house, but it was always locked. I started wandering the streets with a strong desire to meet you one day," she sobbed.

"I could not return to my house here because my parents had sold it to someone else, and nobody has lived there for quite a long time. I lived on the streets and feasted on leftovers in dumpsters. I was waiting for you all these years, sweetheart!"

Richard remained speechless and only cried. "I just moved back to my hometown. My house remained locked all these years after my parents died. I should've come back long ago...I am sorry for making you wait," he wept.

He helped Iris get up and hugged her. "Let's go home!" he said as they turned around and walked toward his house. Richard and Iris started living together, making up for the 50 years they had lost.

Time and age do not matter in love, and this couple was toward their mutual goal of living the rest of their lives peacefully in love.

What can we learn from this story?

• True love always has a heartwarming ending. Richard and Iris could not meet for 50 long years due to circumstances. But fate drew them closer again because their love was true. They hadn't forgotten each other and were devoted to their relationship.
• Never lose hope and faith in life. Despite not meeting his beloved for 50 years, Richard did not lose hope. After moving back to his hometown, he visited her house, knowing he would only see it abandoned. His sincere effort ultimately helped him reconcile with his long-lost sweetheart after he met her on the street.

A lonely woman finds a sealed letter from her first love from decades ago in her old school jacket. She becomes emotional, knowing she cannot change the past, but what she does next is unbelievable. Click here to read the full story.

This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.