I was sure I’d met my soul mate, then the wheels fell off. But had we just lost our way? By Kathryn Harker, 47
Climbing out of the car, I looked over towards the green grass of the Yorkshire Dales.
My parents and I had come to the caravan park we visited every summer.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ Mum said, as we pulled our bags out of the car.
I was looking forward to spending my days splashing around in the river and playing with the local kids who lived in the nearby village.
There was one in particular I couldn’t wait to see. His name was Andrew and he had the loveliest smile.
He was a couple of years older than me, but we always seemed to gravitate towards each other, lingering at the back of the group of kids we’d hang out with.
This summer, that pull seemed to be stronger than ever.
‘You’re so pretty,’ Andrew told me one day, and my heart nearly beat out of my chest when we shared our first kiss by the river at sunset.
When I went back home, we agreed to keep going out, even if it was long distance.
'I miss you so much'
‘I miss you so much,’ I’d tell him when we spoke on the phone.
But while we’d call as often as possible, it was difficult to chat on our home landlines.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll go down in a few weeks,’ Mum would say when I complained about not seeing Andrew enough.
It was only when I turned 16 that I was able to get the three-hour train from my hometown of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, to his village.
Somehow, we made our long-distance love work. But as my 18th birthday rolled around and I began looking at universities, Andrew suddenly seemed off with me.
The next time I visited, he dropped a bombshell.
‘I think we should stop seeing each other,’ he said.
‘But why?’ I asked, shocked and upset.
‘You’re off to university soon, I think you should spread your wings and not have to worry about me,’ he explained.
I was devastated, but I agreed we should stop seeing each other.
It was only when I started uni and threw myself into my course, making friends and enjoying boozy nights out, that the pain of the break-up began to ease.
I realised that Andrew had been right.
‘He was my first love and he always will be,’ I told one of my uni friends.
‘You never forget your first love,’ she agreed.
Over the next few years, I had a few boyfriends, but none that compared to Andrew.
Then after university, I moved to the US, getting a job working with adults with learning difficulties.
But as I tried to settle into life abroad, Andrew was never far from my mind. I kept wondering what he was up to and if he ever thought about me too.
After our break up, we’d lost touch. And while I was still friends with his sister Donna, we only spoke occasionally and I didn’t want to let on that I still held a torch for her brother.
Eventually, I moved back to Wakefield. And by then, I’d put Andrew to the back of my mind.
One night, I’d just added the finishing touches to my make-up before heading out on a date, when my phone rang.
Maybe my date’s running late, I thought.
But when I answered, a voice I recognised instantly said: ‘Is that Kathryn?’
‘Andrew!’ I cried.
‘I got your number from Donna,’ he replied.
‘I have to go because I have a date, but I’ll call you later,’ I told him.
At the pub, I was secretly counting down the time before I could make my excuses and rush home to call Andrew back.
Before hitting the call button later, I worried I’d blown it.
But when Andrew answered, he cheekily asked: ‘How was your date?’
I laughed, told him it wasn’t up to much, and then got on with catching up on the last eight years.
We chatted for hours and Andrew said he hadn’t been able to forget about me either.
We arranged to meet up at the weekend, and when Andrew pulled up outside my house and got out the car, I gasped.
The lean teenage lad I’d fallen for at the caravan park was now a broad, muscly man.
But when I opened the door, Andrew flashed that same gorgeous smile I remembered and said: ‘Great to see you!’
‘You too,’ I replied, grinning.
Instantly, the years fell away. And from that moment, we were hardly apart.
We moved in together, and two years later I turned to Andrew and said: ‘Let’s get married.’
That afternoon, we went to a jeweller’s and picked out my engagement ring.
Soon after, we tied the knot in a small wedding and it was perfect.
We went on to have two children, Neve and Aiden.
They’re 13 and 10 now, and it’s been 21 years since Andrew and I got back together.
We still reminisce about those summers when I came to the caravan park for my holidays.
We’ve even bought our own caravan on the same plot my parents had all those years ago.
My uni pal was right, you never forget your first love. And I’m so glad I got a second chance to find happiness with mine.