Wednesday Madhouse - holiday bonus.

I've joined Kate of One More Thing in her Wednesday Madhouse posts. Sounds like fun, I thought but this first topic is killing my brain cells :o). "Why?" I hear you ask. Well define holiday - here in the UK I automatically think of going 'on' holiday but I think due to the time of year that Kate might mean holiday as in a Christmassy type thing.....I don't do Christmas these days, but I used to..................

Lets go back (think Mighty Boosh titles) about gulp 28 years shall we. I was 15, in my last year of school. At this time of year I was taking my mock O'levels, thinking about going out and having fun, planning to go and see the last ever Wembley concert of 'The Jam'. I had my whole life ahead of me and I had no idea of what I was going to do or become. In fact 28 years ago, approaching Christmas, I had my first (and as it turned out only) experience of that emotional roller coaster of first (proper) love. I had met M earlier that year, decided he was a nice enough bloke but not my type at all. My friend was dating his friend and we got thrown together a lot, he was funny and he was really popular, the girls seemed to love him and I couldn't see why. But he was good company to pass the time with whilst E and S where wrapped around each other and chatting to M was better than playing gooseberry. I was single (split up with previous loser boy friend about a month earlier), M had a girlfriend - we became mates. I began to look forward to Friday nights, to have a laugh with him, he began catching the same bus home with me, coming in for coffee and we'd  talk and laugh for hours. We'd meet up other than Friday and Saturday nights, we'd go shopping, listen to music and talk and talk and talk. We became really good friends.

I remember writing in my diary about him. I remember getting butterflies wondering if he'd call. I didn't realise I wanted more than to be his friend. When the lightening bolt hit me, I was shocked. He had a girlfriend and I had strict rules about that. I rode that up and down emotional roller coaster for the whole month of December 28 years ago. Forget the presents, forget the celebrations, forget concerts and exams (how I passed any of them is still a mystery) all I thought about was M. I was falling, though I didn't know it at the time, deeply and irreversibly in love.

So, here I am 28 years on from my fifteen year old self. Still amazed by that time and my holiday bonus - that added extra of a deep and abiding love - well I'm still enjoying it. It is a bonus that has lasted 28 years and counting and every year I remember, M remembers, we laugh and joke about it and feel blessed.