My First Love-What Was I Thinking?

It's probably safe to say that we all remember our "first love". That first little fluttering of the heart, that first glorious kiss ... that first ... well ...whatever. However, how we all define that first love, oh so many years ago, is quite another story. I guess most define it as innocent and wonderful, others as unrequited love, others as simply the one that got away. And then some-and this is the category that I fall into-will define it as simply ... "What the heck was I thinking?!" Of course we all know that our brains are not fully developed during our teen years, so this is my defense.

I met my "first love" when I was 14. His family and my family became close and our friendship developed into something more, much to the horror of our parents. (Let's just leave it at that). He was 3 years older than I and really should have been dating girls more his age. That was probably the charm of the relationship. It was driving our parents crazy. Long story short, he broke my heart (at least I thought so at the time) by marrying someone else. I heard that the first 2 years were very rough on his wife. He started drinking and doing pills (not sure what kind), running around, and abused her physically. We ran into each other at a party one night (he was still married) and he pulled me aside to let me know how much he "missed me" and how sorry he was that we had "drifted apart." I simply told him not to be sorry, and let him know that he had actually done me a tremendous favor. I wonder how long he stared at me as I walked away. I think, often times, "first loves" can become "What the heck was I thinking?!"

How do you define your "first love" experience? Bet it's a good story, so why not share it with us? Besides, seeing it in print simply validates it happened in the first place.