Octogenarian couple back together almost 70 years after summer romance Sandy Gutting, 84, and Chuck Lewis, 85, fell in love in 1945 on spring break They broke up after Gutting returned to LA and didn't speak for 62 years The couple reunited seven years ago and fell in love all over again In the summer of 1945, a two teenagers fell in love and now, almost 70 years later, they're back together. When 17-year-old Chuck 'Red' Lewis saw 16-year-old Sandy 'Franci' Riggins (now Gutting) at Oceanside Pier in California, it was love at first sight. But the pair lost contact when Gutting went home to LA, and both went on to marry and raise families in different cities. Memories: Chuck Lewis and Sandy Cutting walking north on The Strand toward the Oceanside Pier where they met in 1945 After a silence of 62 years, the pair got back in touch via email seven years ago and found the feelings they had for each other in 1945 were still there. Both now in their 80s, the memories of that long-ago summer are still vivid for both of them. Chuck Lewis, 85, told UT San Diego that when he saw pretty blond Sandy Gutting, he had to go and 'chat her up.' 'I was excited,' Gutting, 84, said. Young love: This photo was taken shortly after Lewis and Gutting met at Oceanside Pier Here was this handsome guy who was interested in me, and I thought it would be fun. The relationship turned serious and when Gutting, returned home to Los Angeles after spring break, Lewis managed to scrounge rides from friends to visit her every weekend that summer. But when summer was over, Lewis, still in high school, with no car, no money and having worn out his friends' generosity, couldn't visit his beloved Franci any more. 'We were involuntarily separated,' he told UT San Diego. 'It couldn't be helped.' Sun-drenched summer: Gutting, pictured left in both photos, never expected to fall in love on her spring break in 1945 For Gutting, it was her first break-up, and she took it hard. 'He broke my heart,' she said, explaining how Lewis sent a friend to collect his letterman's jacket from her. Gutting moved on, working as a flight attendant for United Airlines and marrying a man who was a passenger on one of her flights. She had four daughters, and when her husband died of a heart attack after 17 years of marriage, she raised them alone. Gutting eventually moved to Seattle to be close to her grown children and grandchildren. Lewis joined the Air Force, went to UCLA and became the manager of a lock-making company. He married twice, and his first marriage produced two daughters. Back together: Gutting and Lewis now spend every holiday together and a week out of every month In 1990, Lewis retired to Oceanside, the town where he first laid eyes on Sandy Gutting. Years passed, but both Lewis and Gutting occasionally found themselves remembering the sun-drenched summer when they were young and in love. 'When one dates such a lovely girl,' Lewis told UT San Diego, 'one remembers such things.' Both treasured a small pile of photographs taken in 1945 when Franci, in a white bikini, and strapping 17-year-old Red would take beach trips and go on romantic dates. Gutting told UT San Diego how she would show a picture of Lewis that she kept in her closet to her grown-up daughters. 'There were many times over the years where I'd think about my dear darling Franci,' Lewis said. Despite the even greater distance between them since Gutting's move to Seattle, getting back in contact was a lot easier than it would have been in 1945. In 2007, a mutual friend told Lewis that he had spoken to Gutting via email and discovered she would be flying to Oceanside for a friend's birthday party. Lewis needed no further encouragement and emailed Sandy immediately. The pair struck up a correspondence, exchanging 62 years of news. He picked Gutting up from the airport, wearing a red hat in honor of his teenage moniker, and the pair went to their old stomping ground at Oceanside Harbor for a long, conversation-filled dinner. 62 years in the making: Gutting and Lewis have now been together again for seven years The chat that began again seven years ago never ended. Now, the pair speak on the phone at 9am and 9pm each day and spend a week out of every month visiting each other, in addition to whiling away afternoons playing each other at online scrabble. They don't plan to marry - Lewis still lives in Oceanside and Gutting remains in Seattle, close to her daughters - but the arrangement works for both of them. 'This works out for us quite well,' Lewis told UT San Diego. 'We are so different that if we were together all the time, I think we'd drive each other crazy. The couple spend holidays together, and their families have gotten to know each other and are ecstatic that Gutting and Lewis have found love again. 'We're in love,' Lewis affirms. 'Sometimes I wonder about what would have happened if we'd stayed together back then. I think we both feel it could've ended in marriage. But it doesn't do much good now to talk about "what if?" The future is out there, and we'll face it together.'