- All right, y'all know I always like to end the hour
with something fun and different from social media.
This is "What I'm Liking."
(upbeat music plays and audience cheers)
So today we've been celebrating awesome couples,
so I want to share an incredible love story
more than 50 years in the making, it's a movie.
It starts back in North Carolina in 1964
when then-high-schoolers Vivian and Jim started dating,
so cute!
For two years, they were inseparable,
that is, until Jim had to move to New Jersey
to care for his mom.
It was another two years before they'd see each other again
for one whirlwind visit, okay.
After which, fine, they lost touch.
Their lives went on individually, each getting married.
Jim had a successful radio career,
but they never forgot about one another.
And finally in 2020, they reconnected,
and late last year, they became husband and wife.
(audience cheering)
- [Kelly] But there's even more to the story!
We have Vivian and Jim on the line to share it all.
They watch on ABC 45 Greensboro.
Hi, y'all!
- Kelly!
- [Kelly] Oh my gosh, so... - Hello, how are you?
- Thank you so much for being on the show.
I love, this is like a movie, your story.
So, how did you lose touch?
- Well, I lost touch when my mom became ill in New Jersey.
I went back to take care of her,
but I thought I was gonna only be gone
for a couple of months,
and I ended up staying and finishing school in New Jersey.
- We did, I did visit him for a short while,
so a few years before,
and I had to get back to North Carolina.
I went to New Jersey to visit him,
and I had to get back to North Carolina,
and shortly after that, I realized that I was pregnant
with Jim's daughter.
- What?
- I went back to New Jersey to tell Jim.
But he wasn't there.
He had moved, and I didn't know it.
He had moved to Maryland to pursue his radio career,
but I didn't know that at the time.
So I always said, I always thought to myself,
"He will find me. One day he will find me."
And I kept that belief in my head for 50 years.
And it came true.
- Oh my gosh!
(audience applauding)
So how did you reconnect, and what was that like?
And then like, you have a kid.
- Well, I actually reconnected with a friend
after retiring from radio.
He asked me what I was gonna do,
and I said "Well, I might like to connect
with my high school sweetheart again."
He said, "What's her name?"
And I told him the name,
and he looked it up on Facebook and found her,
and he said "Oh, she's gorgeous!"
And he said, "Okay, I'll send it to you,
and let me know if it's the same lady."
And I said "Oh my gosh, she is gorgeous! That's her!"
He said, "Let me do some more information,
find out some more information about her,
and I'll get back to you."
- Oh my gosh, I love this story.
Go ahead, Vivian.
- And he did, he found me,
and I invited this young man to dinner.
I had to see him for myself and touch him
to make sure this is for real.
And I invited him to dinner,
he came over, and he stood at that door,
I opened that door and he was standing there,
I was so excited, my heart was beating,
I just reached and snatched him in
and hugged him and kissed him.
- Aw.
Aw, I love this story!
- I was really excited, I couldn't help myself!
- Well, 50 years, you at least deserve a hug,
I'm just sayin', like....
Like, at least. You're due something!
- It was exciting, oh my, it was exciting.
My heart was beating so fast,
and Jim was standing there,
and with that voice, oh my gracious, that voice,
he's talking about "Hello, Vivian,"
and there's the voice I didn't recognize,
but I loved it.
He just turned my head all the way around.
- Oh my gosh, I love you two so much.
This should be a movie, and y'all should star in it.
Oh my God, I love y'all so much.
Thank you so much Vivian, thank you so much Jim.
I'm liking your post right now.
(audience cheering)
And that's not all!
Wait one second, that's not all.
Our season-long partner Pilot Pen, makers of Friction,
the go-to erasable pen of the Kelly Clarkson show,
want to celebrate those creating fearlessly,
just like y'all, I mean, creating for 50 years, ma'am.
So they're giving you $1000, how's that sound?
(audience cheering and clapping)
Oh my gosh, y'all have so much fun with that money!