Forty Years Later, High School Sweethearts Reunited

Among the photographs adorning the home of Danny and Teresa Rakow is one taken when the couple were teenage lovebirds and another from their wedding day. A gulf of about 40 years separates the time when the pictures were taken.

The couple, who first met in high school, reconnected from different sides of the country. They were married on Dec. 31.

“It may take a long, long time,” said Danny. “Sometimes it may take a lifetime. But if you have faith, it all comes together.”

It all started in November of 1969. Danny, then 14, attended Valley Stream Central High School while Teresa, then 13-year-old Teresa Bianco, went to Elmont Memorial High School. Both lived in Valley Stream, N.Y. and a dance at the Knights of Columbus Hall was the site of their first meeting.

“It was kind of like West Side Story when Tony sees Maria,” said Teresa.

Their initial courtship lasted for about three years. Teresa recalled how Danny’s family didn’t allow him to have a car, but Danny surreptitiously kept one at her house. The couple also modeled for photographs taken by Teresa’s mother.

“We each went our separate ways,” said Teresa. “My heart was really broken, and to this day I can feel that pain.”

Both Danny and Teresa married young. Teresa moved to Chicago and then to Colorado Springs, Co. when she was 28, while Danny remained in Valley Stream. Danny was married for 32 years, Teresa for 25 years.

In the intervening time, they had not spoken with one another. Then, about two and a half years ago, Teresa found Danny on Facebook.

“We kind of have the same circle of friends from way back in the day, and I saw his e-mail address,” she said.

Teresa waited about three months, then sent him a message. Danny wrote back, and the two began corresponding to catch up. At the time, Danny was in the midst of a separation process and Teresa had been divorced for eight years. She was engaged, but wasn't sure if the relationship was right for her. Danny joked that he would have to recreate the ending of The Graduate if the wedding went forward.

During the correspondence, Danny was taking a walk each morning and praying to a statue outside a church. One day, he noticed that it was a statute of St. Therese.

“I really was mentally in a lot of different places, and that’s when I felt that God almost reached out and said, ‘Hey, settle down,’” he said.

The couple first saw each other face to face again—and realized there were some sparks left in their relationship—when they met at a Chicago airport and went out to dinner. After that, Danny made frequent flights out to Colorado to visit Teresa. On New Year’s Eve of 2009, she moved back to Long Island and the two began dating again.

“We realized that was it for us, we were committed,” said Teresa. “That’s why we got married on New Year’s Eve, because it was symbolic that we got together.”

Danny owns an franchise, including the store on Colman Ave., while Teresa works with him as a director of new business development. They considered New London a good fit and bought a house on Lower Boulevard in December of 2010; they moved in the following May after completing renovations. The initial plan called for a wedding at the beach, but rain led to the ceremony taking place in this house.

Danny is now 57 years old, and Teresa 56. Both consider their reunion a kind of divine intervention.

“If we’re going to have a message, I’d say it would be have faith always,” said Danny. “And if you think you’re going in the right direction, keep going that way.”

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