Two veterans reunite in Rockton after 60 years
Childhood friends catch up after six decades apart.
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) - Carl Sterling and Denny Johnson went from living thousands of miles apart, to four blocks away from each other.
“We’ve been coming here since Dee Dee opened two years ago,” said Carl Sterling.
Little did Sterling know, Dee Dee, the owner of his favorite coffee shop in Rockton, was his long time friend Denny Johnson’s daughter. It wasn’t until a month ago the two reunited after six decades apart, through small talk at the cafe.
“I got up and said ‘are you Carl Sterling’, and he said ‘yep’, he still didn’t recognize me really,” said Johnson.
“He said ‘Denny Johnson’ and then all the years just fell away,” said Sterling. “I could...... the eyes to the voice, I said yep, that’s Denny.”
Sterling says it was a tear filled moment.
“We had not seen each other for 60 years until somebody asked him where he went to high school,” said Johnson. “It was unbelievable.”
The two have been friends since they were five years old, but after graduating from Harlem High School, they lost touch. Johnson moved to Alaska for a few years when he was in the air force and stayed local after. Sterling was in the marine corps, but moved all over.
“New Mexico, taught a couple years in Texas actually, and moved to Florida,” said Sterling. When I asked him what brought him back Rockton, his answer was ‘home’.
Carl says now that he is reunited with Johnson, Rockton feels even more like home. The two makeup for lost time by going to sporting events together, and having a weekly coffee, at Dee Dee’s.
“We could be twin brothers, we always have had the same interests,” said Johnson. “Done the same things.”
“It’s like finding a long lost brother,” said Sterling.
The Harlem High School baseball team invited Johnson and Sterling, as well as another baseball player from their old high school team to a game later this month. Both the men say friendship is one of the biggest gifts a person can have, and staying in touch is incredibly important.
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