‘Reunited with my sweetheart from children’s home after 50 years apart...’
LOST LOVES BROUGHT TOGETHER BY WEBSITE
TWO childhood sweethearts who were torn apart aged 14 have been reunited nearly 50 years later.
Jayne Taylor-Savery was just five when she met Sandy Smith in a children’s home.
Their friendship blossomed into love but when Jayne was sent away at the age of 14, she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye.
Now the pair are back together after meeting via an online group and have fallen in love all over again.
Jayne, 65, said: “When I got the message from Sandy I had to take a step back because I didn’t believe it was him after all these years.
“It was like my soul leapt. The 48 years apart just disappeared. I thought I knew what love was, but now know I didn’t really.”
Jayne was three when she was taken from her abusive father’s care and placed in Quarrier’s Children’s Home in Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire.
Two years later, she met Sandy and the pair became pals.
It wasn’t until later that their friendship turned to love.
Sandy, 66, said: “One day I spent three pennies on sweets, as that was something we never had at the children’s home.
“I waited for Jayne and when we were alone I blurted out the special three words – ‘Want a sweetie?’ From then on we were boyfriend and girlfriend and I knew one day Jayne was going to be my wife.”
But fate tore them apart when Jayne was sent back to live with her father without warning.
The home would not give Sandy her contact details.
Both went on to marry and have children before becoming single. Sandy said: “By chance a few years ago I found a page called Quarrier’s Home
Children of the Past. I couldn’t believe it when I found Jayne listed on there, I thought ‘Oh my god’. I sent a message saying ‘I see there’s a pretty young blonde haired girl who sat next to me in school’.
“I knew Jayne would know that was me. Two nights after that I got a reply.”
Jayne, from Dundee, said: “I couldn’t believe Sandy had never given up looking for me.”
The pair met up in 2013 when Sandy was in Dundee.
Sandy said: “I can’t describe what it was like seeing her. I thought ‘She’s the girl I wanted as my wife and here she is’. We held hands and started talking away and we haven’t stopped since.”
Jayne added: “We’ve been together nearly five years now. People assume we’ve been married for decades.
“We’ve just picked up where we left off. We don’t know what the future holds but I do know that now I’ve found Sandy again, I’m never letting him go. He was my very first boyfriend, and now he’ll be my last.”