Back in the day, Catherine had an on-again/off-again relationship with Nicky, a guy she had a huge crush on.

She says: "We would go out a couple of times, then he would turn his attention to someone else, leaving me devastated. This lasted for the last two years of high school. I went to my senior prom with another guy from our group and he took one of my best friends. We double-dated, but Nicky and I ended up together at the end of the evening."

Catherine never heard from Nicky after graduation. She lost touch with him. She once asked a mutual friend about him.

"She said he was sort of bumming around. He was married but not doing well. She did say that he had told her he should have married me. I guess that's one reason I always romanticized our relationship. I fantasized about the relationship I wished we had, not the one we actually had."

Catherine got married a year later and moved to another state. "I was too busy raising my kids to give him much thought, although when I was feeling frustrated or lonely, he would always come to mind."

Fast-forward several decades. Catherine and her husband separated, and she moved back to her hometown. By then, she had lost contact with everyone.

"I would drive down my old street and by my old high school and wish I could relive those years again."

Catherine reconnected with her two best friends from high school through Facebook. "We were talking about all the boys we knew back then, but they didn't know where any of them were or how to contact them. Then, last year one of my friends found one of the guys. Just like dominos, we were able to find almost everyone, including Nicky. He was still as handsome and charming as I remembered."

Nicky told Catherine that he had moved out of state a few years after graduation. He'd been married a few times and had had several children. He'd started his own company but lost it when he became addicted to drugs. He told her he was now clean and sober and had restarted his previous company in their hometown.

"I asked him why he kept pulling back from me during high school. He told me that he had been 'a busy youth.' He'd been with a lot of girls, but I wasn't someone he wanted to casually use. I was someone to marry."

Nicky asked Catherine if he could call her and take her to dinner some time. "I was so happy, I said yes. He never called, though."

A few months later, someone from their old group hosted a barbecue. Catherine and Nicky were both invited. Nicky stayed by Catherine's side the whole day. "His brother pulled me aside at one point and said, 'You know, he never got over you. He still likes you.' Needless to say, I was flattered."

In the next column, the Catherine and Nicky saga continues.

Have you reconnected with an old love? How did it work out? Send your tale, along with your questions, problems and rants to [email protected]. And check out my ebooks, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front" and "I'll Call You. Not."

Photo credit: at Pixabay