When 17-year-old Kim Juzang traveled to Natchez with her best friend, Wanda, she had no idea how profoundly her life was about to change.
Now 64, Juzang remembers arriving at Wanda’s cousins’ house while everyone was sleeping — everyone except an attractive young man who came to the door and pulled back the curtain to see who was there.
“I was in love the second he smiled at me,” she says of the boy, who turned out to be Wanda’s first cousin, Preston Logan. “He told me that he liked me right away.”
Despite that immediate chemistry, a relationship proved hard to maintain when they could only meet sporadically.
“When we were both 21 years old, we finally tried to start our relationship, but he couldn’t do the long-distance relationship,” Juzang says. “So, at that point, our lives happily went in two different directions.”
REKINDLING THEIR ROMANCE
Sadly, Logan lost his wife of 26 years to breast cancer in 2014. He did some dating — and then Wanda disclosed that his former flame, Juzang, had periodically asked about him.
“Unbeknownst to me, Preston also kept the memory of me near,” Juzang says. “He asked permission to contact me, and he was pleased to hear that I was open to talking with him. The rest is history.”
The couple was engaged within a few months and married by the end of 2023. Their Oct. 7 nuptials sealed a union several decades in the making.
“I love Preston’s kind heart; he is always willing to help someone in need,” Juzang says of her spouse, who works as an independent contractor and owns a trucking company. “He is a great dad and papa. He is family-oriented, and he enjoys family gatherings. I have always known Preston to be a very hard worker, and he provides for the needs of his family.”
The admiration is mutual, as Logan praises his wife’s warm, welcoming personality.
“She is a beautiful and loving person inside and out,” he says of Juzang, who is an administrative assistant with CBF Partners LLC and works at NASA Stennis Space Center. “She never meets a stranger, and she is kind to everyone.”
TOGETHER AT LAST
To those who feel discouraged on the relationship front, Juzang urges them to keep the faith. They may not end up with the person they’ve crushed on for 47 years, she adds, but a special love story can happen for anyone.
“We believe God made sure we were always connected to each other in some way, whether through dreams or through his family members or friends keeping us updated on each other’s lives,” Juzang says. “Once, we literally bumped into each other at a football game while we were both looking down trying to find our seats.”
The two avid football fans now enjoy watching games together — especially Alabama — as well as gardening and spending time with family. Preston has five children and six grandchildren, and his new wife is excited for what the future holds with her longtime love at her side.
“We get to be a part of living out the rest of our lives together, sharing family activities, watching our grandchildren grow up,” Juzang says. “We were brought together, finally, and will never let each other go. This is our time.”