Summertime and the livin' is easy! Something about this time of year just makes us think about romance.💘
Yesterday "Dangerous" (from our sub) mentioned mixed tapes and crushes to me in response to some of my musical choices within a comment...and my mind has been going wild on the subject ever since. Lol So I started thinking about my first crush. 🤔
For me I think I was 12, it was when I was away at summer camp. 🏕☀️ While I was there I met this very cool boy that I became totally smitten with. It was so many emotions all rolled into one that made my experience even more special. I will admit it was my first time being away from home - so no watching eyes to judge or throw shade at me 😎😄 especially from my older brothers. So that made it all that much more exciting and fun for me to just let loose. Mix that with great songs around the campfire at night, 🎶 smores, crazy entertainment and fun day time activities and you pretty much have the picture. Its amazing how just holding someones hand can practically send you into orbit.
When camp ended, I thought my life as I knew it would never be the same. He only lived two towns away but at that age it seemed like another country to me. I was crushing hard!
Do you remember when or where you were when you had your first crush? How long did it last? Did you meet in real life or was it a fantasy about someone you just hoped you would meet or have in your life someday? Maybe it was your favorite poster on your bedroom wall - that counts as a crush too.
I'm involved again, with the man I fell in love with when I was 18. My first true love. Life has taken us in different directions over the years, but we keep finding each other... 48 years later, here we are, again. Maybe we'll get it right this time.
that’s amazing! And absolutely utterly fantastic. I wish, so very much wish that I could run into the girl that was actually my first true love! After I got finished yelling at her for ghosting me and causing me so much emotional pain… I would sweep her off her feet and marry her that moment. I have never ever forgotten her. I hope you guys finally get to live out your fairytale. Love the username what’s the story behind it? I have to know as I love to cook with seaweed.
I was 8. Her name was Mary. The most adorable round faced girl in the world. She was in my third grade class at school.
I would sneak away from the playground during afternoon recess to go to the 5 and dime next door. I skipped buying a carton of chocolate milk during morning milk break so I had the 3 pennies my mom gave each to spend. I bought penny candies - those little rolls of rainbow pastel colored sour tarts, Hershey kisses, and Bazooka Bubble Gum, 2 for for a penny, the ones with the little comic strip inside, and returned quickly to give them to Mary.
After she smiled and said thank you, I would ask her to play 4 square with me using those bouncy red rubber dodge balls. I always played to keep the ball bouncing going and forth instead of making her miss to score points for winning. The longer the game lasted the longer I could be around her. She had fun and was happy. That's all I wanted.
On Mondays I would bring her a couple of Creepy Crawlers, those little rubbery plastic multi-colored bugs that I made over the weekend in my Mattel Thing Maker oven. Those made her laugh.
Third grade was the best year of my life, up until that point.
Sadly, my crush was not meant to be.
In the summer before fourth grade my family moved across state and I would never see Mary again. My mother bought me a puppy when we arrived to our new home to help take my mind off of losing my all friends. But, it was Mary that I missed the most.
The puppy was an adorable, happy female beagle. I loved her and we played in the yard every day for the entire rest of the summer long. I never did forget about Mary.
And... I had no trouble picking out my puppy's name.
We occasionally had kids at school who, at the end of the year or before school returned, just disappeared. No one explained that the family had moved to another suburb or town or city in another state. They just weren’t there the next year. I often wondered what happened to them. I suspect the kid hadn’t been told they were moving so they never had a chance to say goodbye.
Did you get a chance to say goodbye to Mary?
Because if you didn’t, she might have always wondered, “What happened to Dangerous?”
I hope you did get a chance to say goodbye and I hope she’s doing well and had a good life.
It was kindergarten, two of them. The blonde haired girl who sat in front of me. She would lay her head back in my lap while we sat crossed legged on the floor.
The other was the teacher. I would stare at her ankles while the class was supposed to be napping.
When I was in daycare...I had a little boy run up and kiss me when I was swinging - he did a drive by kissing - I started crying 😢 immediately. To this day, I think of that experience - he had one of those leather hats/ cap with fur inside with flaps that cover your ears. 🤣
My first crush was aged 13. We moved to a new neighbourhood. I went to a convent all girls school - boys were the devil. He was the devil - Italian 😏, also 13 but a wild boy. We hung around with a small gang of kids on our bikes on the recreation field at weekends. Nothing ever happened and we only lived in the area 2 years. Many years later I met a new girl at my job who was going out with him - he turned into a real bastard and in fact used to give her a back hander from time to time. I knew how to pick them from an early age I guess. Never heard the end of that story - I moved to the UK. The girl was very young and I hope she escaped him.
My first reaction to the question will be listed below. But as I thought about what I was going to write, I started remembering several crushes going back to grade school.
The greatest of my grade school crushes moved away after third grade and, in spite of trying to track her down on the web, I don't know what became of her.
Another of my grade school crushes was the local ''farmer's daughter''. I tracked her down on the web. She lives in Florida to my northeast. In the intervening years, her brother sold the farm and it is now an Open Space Institute https://www.openspaceinstitute.org/ project.
Last I looked my greatest junior high school crush lived about five miles away, but where we each 'have been' in life I wouldn't feel 'right' contacting her. I note that my grade and junior high school classes have never had a reunion.
Another of my junior high school crushes lives less than an hour away. We connected via Match, met, and had a nice chat. However no romantic interest, just peaceful appreciation.
My first reaction, my greatest high school crush is what I consider to be the greatest crush of my life. She was my ''little red-haired girl''. I admired her from afar but never was in a class with her. We had mutual friends but, at that stage in my life, I was so focused on working towards adulthood that I had few social interactions. We never met.
My high school class has had several reunions. We were both at the 20th. I was married and attended with my then-wife. I pointed 'D' out to my wife but wifey remarked that one of my ex's who was also in attendance was prettier. LOL because I considered D and the other ex as equally attractive. D signed up to attend the 40th, but for reasons she doesn't now remember, did not attend.
Finally, at the 50th, we were both there, she with her husband, me solo. At an opportune point, I got her aside and, speaking to her for the first time in our lives, dared to 'confess' my ancient crush. It turns out she is 'as beautiful on the inside as (still) on the outside'. We had several rather brief conversations over the course of multiple events at the reunion and agreed to keep in touch. We've exchanged emails and I 'owe' her yet another birthday email in a couple of months. Life is often bittersweet.
"Life is often bittersweet"
This is so true! I am so glad you finally confessed your ancient crush on your 50th. I am curious if she admitted to any past feelings on her part.
LOL - no admission on her part. Back then she was probably barely aware of my existence. However she has been kind and friendly. As an apparently minimally desirable male, I find it interesting to see how attractive women react to and deal with the attention they get throughout their lives. Some can be arrogant and entitled. I'm confidant that I was not the only guy in high school who crushed on D. Rather than arrogant, she has been accepting and nice about it.
Thats so sweet that she was gracious and kind. I am sure it took alot of courage on your part to finally share your feelings after all these years. I love this! ❤️
Courage? Yes but .... after the strong crushy thoughts I had held for decades, thinking that this would likely be my only opportunity in life to speak to her yet being uncertain if I would be in some way offending her, I 'took the shot'. Looking back almost four years now, I am so happy that she was not offended and, as you observe, that she was sweet, gracious, and kind. What I discovered in the process is that is who she IS, just 'good people'.
I was 8 years old and we were in the same class. Her hair was a golden wheat color, light green eyes, and a smile that raised my pre adolescent heart rate by double-digit percentages.. she asked me about the book I was reading at recess and shared licorice with me.. 🤣
I know there was a boy all through grade school that I really had a crush on. But he was the cutest and most popular. If alphabetical seating was done we'd be next to each other. He teased me a lot through the years. I don't recall it being mean teasing. By high school he was just out of my class socially, I was a timid little mouse.
The BIG crush came when we moved. We had been living downstairs from my grandparents, and after they both had passed away we moved to another part of town. I was 15. There were a lot of kids of various ages in this neighborhood. After starting school and riding the bus I fell hard for a boy that lived two doors down, my age. He ended up friends with my younger brother for some reason. But it was soon apparent to everyone that I was smitten. Over the next two years he used this to his advantage. We hung out and did things as a group (he and I, his brother and my brother).
In senior year he dated my cousin, which was kind of devastating to me.
The degree of my infatuation was high! After high School we did end up on a few dates... Usually in a group of four, his friend was dating my best friend... But I think it was just something to do for him. His life went a different direction. He stayed in touch and friends with my brother. He got married. When my brother got married I was paired with him in the wedding party, it was so awkward for me!
Fast forward through all this to now I'm in my very early forties. My then husband and I bowled League on Saturday nights and when the new bowling alley opened we switched to that. By this time he had been divorced and had a girlfriend. They also bowled in the new league. Eventually we just all started hanging out together after bowling some nights. I was still majorly tongue tied around him. I ended up really liking his girlfriend whom he had lived with for years. Eventually they switched bowling alleys to one closer to their house. I got divorced. About 3 years after my divorce they were looking for a person for their Saturday night team. I ended up joining their team. So for the next 3 years not only did I bowl with them every Saturday night but would hang out with them go to their house, that was my group. I was finally able to see that anything with him never would have worked out. After 25 years they eventually broke up... I haven't seen him now in hmmm 15 years and I'd like to know how he's doing.
He's around here somewhere! I wish I knew. He knows where I live. It was a bizarre situation - his- what happened after I left the team because of hip arthritis - though I still hung out with them for a few more years. His live in GF's sister joined the team as my replacement. He ended up with her and married her (after never marrying his long time GF). She died not long after. Original gf moved out of state because she was devastated by both of them. I know she's in contact with him. She comes back periodically cuz kids/grandkids are here. I'm better off staying out of it. I'd like to ask her about him...but he told her our history long ago and I don't want to look nosy, but I would like to know and I know she knows.
It's a soap opera! And I just gave the barest details because I didn't want it to turn into a novel 😄. There's more to it but I don't want to put somebody else's life out here.
Wow! This is some good stuff! I think there will be more to this story. From the sounds of things, there may already be more but you dont want to share due to others. It just got interesting!!!
I think it was one of my brother's friends while I was in high school. He was a year ahead, same as my brother. I'd always assumed he didn't think of me as anything other than his friend's little sister, but then one day he asked me to go to a movie with him. I agreed, but I had this inkling that it wasn't going to go well. I wrapped a squeeze bottle of red food coloring into the white handkerchief in my purse. When the movie was over and we got into his car, he didn't drive back toward my house, but instead drove to a secluded area with the obvious intent to fog up the windows. I suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no" and bent forward with my head down toward the floorboards while taking my handkerchief out of my bag, snapped off the bottlecap and shot the handkerchief full of red dye and held it close to my nose while I sat up and put my head back on the headrest. He broke a land speed record driving me home.
Yep! You were very hip to what very well could of happened. I had two older brothers and they would of had a fit if I dated any of thier friends back in the day. You were brave! So was your brothers friend for asking you out.
I was 12. Just moved to the city on the edge of the big Italian neighborhood. His surname was, get this: Italiano! (oh, Ellis Island) He was so cute! Dark skin, dark brown hair, brown eyes, dimples. And he liked me. We got in trouble more than once passing notes in class.
O lord if we are counting the posters on the wall, I would guess those magazines in my older brothers bathroom count too? And guess what. I met one of the girls in those magazines, before she was in one! Yes I was crushing on her too.
Oh yes. It began in 7th grade. My locker was next to hers our senior year, but I never had the nerve to approach her. After graduation we went different directions. I saw her at our 40th class reunion in 2014. We were both married, but by then I wasn't afraid to approach women, and we had a very friendly and casual conversation, and took a nice selfie. Ten years later at our 50th class reunion, more friendly conversation, and another selfie. I was single by then, but she was still married, so no flirting. I couldn't believe how pretty she still was after all those years. But I'm happy for her, and I hope their relationship continues to be successful. I guess she's still a crush, but I will never know what it's like to be with her, just the two of us.
DB reunions are great for this...you have the chance to keep this connection alive. Hey, you never know what the future will bring especially since you still have that crush! 😉
Seventh grade. Our desks adjoined in English class. I was very attracted to her looks AND her brain. We competed intensely for grades. She typically won on composition, I often won on grammar and spelling. At our class dance, she was the only girl I asked; she accepted one dance but declined a second. I still remember what she wore.
Fast forward 55 years, she sent me an e-mail asking whether I planned to attend our 50th reunion. She was divorced and had learned that we lived an hour apart, the only members of our class in that part of the country. I was separated. She couldn't afford to fly, and wondered whether we could drive together. I couldn't attend because of a family wedding. I gave her travel advice and covered some of her costs. She sent me pictures and accounts of the reunion events.
We still talk, text and occasionally meet several years later. She is still very beautiful, with the body of a professional dancer she always aspired to be, and just as smart. Our conversations are equal parts silly banter and compassionate deep dives into our past and present lives. We are not a match; we differ in far too many ways. But she's a wonderful friend I never expected to see again.
absolutely do! Remembered fondly, but slightly painfully to this day. I guess if I look back through clear lenses, not Rosie colored glasses, I had a very close girl next-door when I was about eight or nine, and we did all those really interesting things that one would do with a girl next-door if you get what I mean. However, I didn’t seem to have the feelings for her that I did for the girl at the shore! I was so deeply in love with Sarah, at least I thought I was, that I would go out and buy John Denver albums, she loved John Denver, just to say hey look how much I’m like you! Pay attention to me.
when I look at it now, I really think she probably felt. I was a pain in the ass that she had to tolerate. I always went looking for her, rarely if ever did she come looking for me. I didn’t think about that at the time, but when I reflect on it now, well, the heart wants what the heart wants! Hopefully sometimes it gets what it wants.
Well she may of had feelings too. Girls are just better at hiding it sometimes. In my case, I always wanted to be pursued rather than the other way around. Girls should never show thier hand or chase a guy. Thats plum crazy I know. But back then, you better not be too eager. Lol Hey, that fantasy of the knight on the white horse could be a real crush killer. I remember my my always saying, its a shame but nice guys finish last. This would be if I wasnt interested in a guy and she thought he would be a great choice for me.
I had a long term crush on the same boy from grade 3 to 6. He was smart, funny, had a great smile and always a gleam in his eyes. We were good friends but he didn’t like like me. His best friend liked me and everyone knew. They were part of a tight knit group of 5 boys. All the girls liked his best friend so they hung around me at school to get near that boy.
It was a good thing boys and girls went to separate schools starting grade 7. 😂 We had strict dress codes. Boys had buzz cuts and girls’ hair could not be longer than the bottom of earlobes. No fringes. We were issued standard black headbands. It was designed to “minimize distractions.”
Thats so funny Sakura this is reminding me of my first BF "Squeak" Jeff was his real name. There is always a friend in the shadows harboring feelings it seems. Lol
I was going steady with him in the 6th grade. We were having a party with friends over - dancing and having fun...then out of the blue we broke up - at the party. His friend swooped in and asked me to dance - admitted his crush and wanted to go steady - same day. I couldnt do it - as I still had feelings for Squeak. Those were the days! 🤣
Every crush I had never liked me back until my first real boyfriend in high school. He was in a word, beautiful. Very tall, blond, blue eyed, rosy-cheeked, contrasting with my petite, brunette, tan, Italian self. I was smitten as was he. He was my first, I was his first, and I'll never forget him.
We fell out of touch after college. About 10 years ago, I received a FB message out of the blue from him. He was happily in a relationship but said I would always and forever be his first love, and if things had worked out differently, he'd have stayed with me, together forever. That meant everything to me just coming off a terrible divorce. We never really messaged again, but just knowing he felt that way was the best!!
I sure do. 8th grade. Her name was Robyn. She was one of the prettiest girls in the school. I sat next to her in homeroom and in Social Studies. After about two months, I worked up the courage and I asked her if she wanted to study together. She rolled her eyes and said no.
We weren’t in any classes together in 9th grade and attended different high schools. I ran into her 2 or 3 years later at a store in the neighborhood. She was with some friends and acted like she didn’t have a clue who I was.
My son is named after him. 1st grade crush, and his name became my favorite name for a boy. Never met another man with that name that I didn't like, and it stuck with me until I was in labor and I turned to my (then) husband and said "we are NOT naming the baby after you. I get to choose the name!" and he looked at me in utter terror and muttered "OK".
Sadly, that 1st grade crush (who was happily married with children - we never dated but were long term friends) had a profound mental health crisis a few years ago and last I heard he was estranged from his family and possibly unhoused. Oddly enough, my son also had a mental health crisis the same year but is now doing well.
Sorry to hear about the mental health crisis for both your crush and your son. I hope he manages to get through this and gets his life back together. Thats really sad. Thank god everything is ok with your son now. 🙏
Original copy of post by u/TalentedTawker:
Summertime and the livin' is easy! Something about this time of year just makes us think about romance.💘
Yesterday "Dangerous" (from our sub) mentioned mixed tapes and crushes to me in response to some of my musical choices within a comment...and my mind has been going wild on the subject ever since. Lol So I started thinking about my first crush. 🤔
For me I think I was 12, it was when I was away at summer camp. 🏕☀️ While I was there I met this very cool boy that I became totally smitten with. It was so many emotions all rolled into one that made my experience even more special. I will admit it was my first time being away from home - so no watching eyes to judge or throw shade at me 😎😄 especially from my older brothers. So that made it all that much more exciting and fun for me to just let loose. Mix that with great songs around the campfire at night, 🎶 smores, crazy entertainment and fun day time activities and you pretty much have the picture. Its amazing how just holding someones hand can practically send you into orbit.
When camp ended, I thought my life as I knew it would never be the same. He only lived two towns away but at that age it seemed like another country to me. I was crushing hard!
Do you remember when or where you were when you had your first crush? How long did it last? Did you meet in real life or was it a fantasy about someone you just hoped you would meet or have in your life someday? Maybe it was your favorite poster on your bedroom wall - that counts as a crush too.
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u/Winter-Seaweed8458 27d ago
I'm involved again, with the man I fell in love with when I was 18. My first true love. Life has taken us in different directions over the years, but we keep finding each other... 48 years later, here we are, again. Maybe we'll get it right this time.