High school sweethearts find each other again, marry lakeside at 87
Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Stillwell Photography
Sixty-six years after they ate cotton candy, rode the Ferris wheel and had their picture taken as high school sweethearts at a carnival, love found its way back to them.
Life, as it often does, had taken Tom Johnson and Linda Rayfield down different paths since his senior year at Sylacauga High School in 1958. When those paths crossed again six decades later, the romance began anew.
Tom recalled the original romance. “I saw Linda first at church and then later at school as a teen. My first impression was that she was a tall, skinny, very beautiful girl. We went to the movies. I took her to the church in Hollins that she had not seen before. We went to the teenage restaurant to see the cars and have a burger on the tray hanging from the car window. Memories never forgotten.”
Linda was in the band. Tom was in the Glee Club. They drifted apart when Tom left for college at Faulkner University.
“For over 60 years, we were actually not very far apart in miles, but our paths did not cross,” Tom said. He lived in Conyers, Ga. She lived in Sylacauga.
“I married Shirley from Eufaula, Alabama, and Linda married Sonny. We both raised wonderful Christian families. We both were caretakers for our mates for many years before they passed. We both have great respect for each other’s former mates.”
But as fate would have it, they met again when he was visiting his brother, Clay County Commissioner Roy Johnson, who spends a lot of time in Talladega County. “I didn’t know who he was. I hadn’t seen him in 65 years,” Linda said.
Tom asked Linda if he could take her out for a meal together. “I was assuming she would suggest one of the steak restaurants, but she suggested the Old Town Grill in Childersburg. We learned quickly that we had a lot in common. I love her very much.”
That rekindled love was mutual, and those different paths they forged years ago finally merged into a wedding aisle on the banks of Logan Martin Lake. Tom’s niece, Rhonda Zorn Fernandez, and husband, Halo, hosted the afternoon celebration at their home.
“It was precious to honor two worthy people that have served others their entire lives,” Rhonda said. About 65 friends and family gathered for the wedding with the lake as a stunning backdrop.
As the bride readied just before the service, she said the two were “real excited” to have found each other again and were getting married.
A bluegrass band played in the background as wedding guests arrived and found their seats. At the appointed time, Linda descended the outdoor staircase. She and Tom came together under a beautifully decorated arch, perfectly framing the couple and the water just beyond, shimmering in the afternoon sun.
Rhonda had reasoned a time as special as this was meant to be shared, and they opened their home and began planning a celebration fit for an epic love story.
Jordan Alker, a preacher and Linda’s grandson, married them. His two daughters, Jaidyn and Avery, served as flower girls.
The bride and groom exchanged vows and rings and sealed it with the traditional kiss. “We planned to have it simple,” Linda said, as she prepared to walk down the aisle. “It turned out not to be.”
And that was just fine with her and Tom. Even a health scare couldn’t keep them apart this time around.
“I found out I had breast cancer two months before the wedding,” Linda said. “I was scared. I didn’t want to be another caregiver burden for Tom. He told me right off the bat, ‘I’m not going anywhere, we’ll face it together,’ and we did. We trusted our faith in God to help us, and we are together strong.”
