First Valentines

Yours writer Marion Clarke shares stories of your childhood sweethearts

Marion as a young girl C upid’s arrow is no respecter of age and can strike us at any time from five to 105, but nobody forgets their first kiss. One aptly named reader, Gwen Hodgkiss, hasn’t forgotten hers: “When I was five I used to sit on a fallen log in the playground. One day there was a little boy sitting there, clutching a bag of sweets. He said: ‘If I give you a toffee, will you give me a kiss? My name is Richard’.

“Good bargain, I thought. He got his kiss. I got my toffee. His lips were sticky. I never saw him again!”

Rosemary Best was six when she fell in love with Eric: “We went to the same school and at the end of playtime kissed each other goodbye. At New Year he knocked on our door with a plastic ring. He said we were engaged, but I wasn’t to tell anyone. At his birthday party I was the only girl, but I only had eyes for Eric who kept wanting to play Postman’s Knock!”

Things didn’t go so well for Jean Ricketts: “Billy and I went to the same school and I was proud when he announced in class that he wanted me to be his partner in the threelegged race on Sports Day. However, nerves got the better of me and I hid in the lavatories until it was all over.

Poor Billy – his family moved away soon after and I was never able to apologise.”

Thelma Barratt was 14 when she had her first kiss: “My friend and I met two boys on holiday. After going to the fun fair together, one of the boys kissed me. I didn’t realise you

‘Roy used to wink at me across the aisle during Sunday School’

could kiss and breathe at the same time. I thought I was going to suffocate!”

Vanessa Hughes has fond memories of her teenage boyfriend although their relationship didn’t last: “On Valentine’s Day, I got a card saying, ‘I love you. Please will you be my girlfriend’. We used to talk a lot and laugh together and held hands walking between lessons.

“One day he walked part of the way home with me and kissed me. It felt magical. After a while he stopped seeing me and went out with my friend, but I’ll always remember him.”

Boys can be terribly fickle, but Evelyn Blackman was lucky: “I met my first boyfriend when I was nine and he was 11. We went to the same Sunday School where the boys sat down one side of the hall and the girls on the other side. His name was Roy and he used to wink at me across the aisle. On the Sunday School outing he held my hand and planted a chaste kiss on my cheek.

“We grew apart, but met again when I was 15 and started dating. This year we celebrated our 55th wedding anniversary.”