I wasn’t happy about about leaving my Catholic school friends and being forced to go to public school with non-Catholic kids in 8th grade when I was thirteen.

I mean…..they were goin’ to limbo, right? Couldn’t get into heaven…..they weren’t Catholic!

I even wondered if I’d get in trouble for bein’ friends with them? Maybe lose my spot in heaven? However, in the beginning I only had one friend anyways and she was Catholic.

But, something magical happened in that public school on one of my very first days……………

I was standing in the lunch line with my new friends when the bell rang for second lunch period to begin.

I saw him down the hall…..he was coming from the shop class. He was walking our way and he was beyond adorable…..WAY beyond. I think that’s when Cupid’s dart hit my heart. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him and all of a sudden he was looking at me. ME…..plain-lookin’, no make-up, no cute hair-style, boring me!

My eyes refused to look away and he was quickly approaching.

And then, there he was and without missing a step, he took hold of my arm and gently pulled me from the lunch line and we began walking…..somewhere.

My brand new friends yelled to me, “Don’t go with him.”

My silent response was…..Are you kidding me? I’m goin’.

Next thing I knew, he opened the boiler-room door which was across from the lunch line and in we went.

He looked at me, said something and it was over that quick…..seconds. I’d love to tell you what he said, but…..I’ve NEVER, EVER been able to remember. My heart was beating so loud, I could hear nothing else.

What I DO remember is that I made sure I was in that lunch line along the hallway wall every single day when that the bell rang, and I watched for that shop-door to swing open.

Quickly it went from the hallway…..to the boiler room…..to walking me home after school…..to my very first real kiss with all the fireworks, music and star-filled sky. He gave me a little silver ring, asked me to “go steady” and we were officially a couple.

He lived in the next town over, a long walk…..so mostly he rode his bike to my house.

Sometimes on Saturday daytimes, he’d put me up on the crossbar of his bike and away we’d go, all the way to his house.

On Saturday nights we watched Shock Theater on TV at my house. Soon as it was over, he’d hop on that bike and head for home.

It was young love. I was thirteen and he was fifteen. We exchanged little pieces of our hearts.

Eventually another boy caught my eye and my first teenage boyfriend and I broke-up. But, it was a different kind of break-up. No angry words, just a promise we’d always stay special to each other and…..we’d hold tight to those pieces of our hearts we’d traded.

The day he joined the Navy, he found me and we went for a walk and a talk. He was excited. I was kinda sad. We swore we wouldn’t lose touch, and he promised me he’d always have enough nickels in his pocket to call.

From then on, our letters and his calls were ongoing. I never knew when the phone would ring and it would be him, dropping in nickels, each to the tune of “klink, klink, klink.”

Sometimes the first thing he’d say is “Will you marry me?” My answer was always NO…..and we’d laugh. Sometimes when I’d hear his voice, I’d say…..”OK, I’m ready,” and he’d say he wasn’t…..and we’d laugh again.

Then the middle of our lives happened and we became busy…..too busy. There was marriage, but not to each other…..and children and all the rest that comes with the middle part. We got lost for a while, but we never really forgot.

The phone calls stopped for a long time…..years.

And then, one day when I answered the phone, a voice said, “Will you marry me?” “NO,” was my surprised, excited, happy reply. We both laughed and picked up from where we’d left off.

We had two full lives to catch up on and, we did; marriages, jobs, children, grandchildren, divorces, happy stuff and real sad stuff.

And then…..he got sick, but we still talked.

He began Chemo, but we still talked.

He became very weak, but we still talked.

And then our calls stopped and all I could do was send my love, and I did…..day after day after day.

His amazing family kept a vigil at his bedside and were kind enough to keep me informed and whisper my messages to him and then relay to me that he smiled when he heard I was still there.

He’s not on this planet any longer but a tree will grow in his memory on the land he loved and lived on for so many years. It’s from his thirteen year old girlfriend from once-upon-a-time.

I know he’s just around a corner, on the other side, with that bag of nickels and the words of encouragement on those polished rocks.

Hold tight to that bag and be watching for me, boyfriend. I’ll be the plain-lookin’ one with no make-up and no cute hairstyle and….. we’ll sit on a cloud and catch-up. xxx