Grace Bates was just 17-years old when she met her one true love – a German Hermann Bosche who was her handsome best friend.
Hermann and Grace used to enjoy long trips on his motorbike in the countryside close to her home, and Grace admits she was totally in love with him, but was unfortunately engaged to someone else.
Despite being engaged to another man, Hermann and Grace planned a future together, until she broke his heart, seeing Hermann flee to America.
Grace admits that the guilt broke her heart for decades, and she decided to track down her ex nearly 60 years later, to apologise for hurting him.
Grace recalled the first time seeing Hermann, saying:
“He was on a tractor. He was beautiful and handsome. We would sometimes go out on his motorbike and it was gorgeous, especially when I had my arms around him.”
“I knew we were falling in love. I didn’t speak a word of German but he did teach me one phrase, ‘ich liebe dich’ (I love you).”
Grace Bates tracked down the man she fell in love with when she was just 17-years old
Despite being in love with Hermann, Grace felt forced to stay in her engagement, and later fell pregnant by her fiancé after a drunken night.
Grace tried to hide her pregnancy, but when she started to show, Hermann was devastated by the news and fled to America.
Grace later gave birth to a girl, but was abandoned by the baby’s father. Quickly married off to another man to avoid the scandal, Grace’s marriage ended in divorce and she never remarried.
It was only in later life that Grace realised she couldn’t go to her grave without finding Hermann.
It was only after the elderly woman decided to sign up to a BBC show that they were able to trace down her long-lost love to Pennsylvania, where he had been married and since widowed in 2013.
In the scenes of their first meeting, Grace is seen hugging Hermann, telling him:
“I’m so sorry for hurting you, life could have been so different for all of us.”
Hermann is still the same gentleman, telling Grace:
“We all did something we shouldn’t have. I have no regrets.”
Despite Grace still holding romantic feelings, herself and Hermann are starting out as friends and have since visited one another three times, and speak regularly.
Grace added:
“It’s like a dream come true to have found him. I feel my heart is back in the right place.”
Story via Mirror UK
