Saturday morning arrived......D*** was coming to take me into town to buy me an engagement ring......there was just one small problem.
We had very little money to spend on such extravagances......I said he could buy a curtain ring and I would be happy with that.
'But your finger will turn a nasty shade of green' he said.
'Whatever ring we buy today is only a token......when we have some money to spare I will buy you something really special' he told me.
We went to a really old fashioned jewellers on Blackburn Road......when D*** told the man in the shop what our budget was he said 'well mate you won't get much for that'
He showed us a pad with about 5 rings on it......I chose one with two tiny chips of diamond in it......we joked and said these must be the 'sweeping ups'...... but the ring fitted and it was placed on my finger with great ceremony......D*** kissed me, there in the shop.
The chap said 'whoa lad have you not had any breakfast' but in a good natured sort of way.
We walked out of the shop and went for a celebratory drink in the Blue Dahlia coffee bar.
I kept on looking at my finger with the ring on it........I never dreamed that this day would come.
The last time I had been in the Blue Dahlia was after we broke up...... and I left in tears.
It all seemed like a bad dream.....disturbing, but distant and not a threat any more.
We had our coffee and then walked up to Oakhill Park.....it was a dull day but my heart was exploding with sunshine and I felt like I had a glow around me.
The next big question was...... when were we going to get married.
That was a tricky one. Neither of us had any money. I had been coughing up most of my wage to my mother. That was going to have to stop......she would not be pleased with that news. We had to do some serious saving if we wanted to get married, find a place to live....oh and furnish it.
D*** asked if the hanky panky ban would be lifted.......I put my head on one side and said that I didn't think so.... but then again it might!
I went home and told my mother that I intended to just pay board as we needed to save up to get married.... her face was as black as thunder and she just went 'Hmmph'......I asked if she wanted to look at my ring..... but she acted as if she hadn't heard me.
I showed it to my Dad instead......'Do you really know what you are doing?' he asked.
'I do..... I know that we can be really happy......I would like you to be happy for us too'
He asked when we were going to get married...I told him that I didn't know. It would all depend on how quickly we could save up some money.
Well, you know that me and your mum can't afford to pay for a wedding'
'I would not expect you to Dad' I told him....'I want to do this for myself'
'Good luck to you both' he said.
Well, he had taken it far better than my mum.
Although D*** and I met at every opportunity we rarely went anywhere that cost any money......I didn't mind.
We spent a lot of time at his place and his mother made me feel very welcome.
We would watch TV and she would sometimes go to Bingo or for a drink with the women she worked with......while we snuggled up together on the sofa.
We were becoming more and more passionate and I was finding it hard to keep D*** at arms length......we were going to have to get married soon or there would be a reason to rush things.
My heart wanted me to give in and make mad passionate love...... but my head kept saying 'NO'.
The local holidays were coming up.....my parents were taking our brood down to a farmhouse in Abersoch......I hadn't been asked to go......and if D*** had not come back into my life I would have been staying at home on my own.
Now that he was back in my life things had a slightly different complexion....they asked us to go on holiday with them.
This was a total surprise....... but then I overheard a conversation between my mum and my dad. They thought that if they left me at home on my own for two weeks I would have D*** over to stay for that time and there would be rampant sexual activity.
I didn't let them know that I had overheard this conversation. I was hurt that they had so little trust in me.
I told D*** and he said that maybe we should go ahead and let our natural urges rip..... just to spite them.
No... we wouldn't do that.....we would go away on holiday with them.
I thought it might give my mum a chance to see how much we cared for each other.
My Dad was driving down in their Escort Esquire. There was not room for us so we went down by bus.
The bus took as far as Pwhelli and there my dad picked us up.
The farmhouse was lovely, but isolated. It was about 30 minutes walk to the beach by the road, but 10 minutes across the fields.
We went to the beach every day.......D*** got sick of the half hour walk and asked me why I wouldn't go via the fields......I told him it was because of the cows......'what is the matter with the cows?' he asked
'nothing, except I am scared of them'
So what did he do.... he piggy backed me to and from the beach each day.
There were 4 bedrooms in the farmhouse.......there were 6 boys with D*** they were split between two bedrooms......Mum and Dad had a bedroom, and me and my three year old sister were in the other bedroom.
My bedroom was also next to that of my mum and dad..... so if D*** had any plans to be a 'carpet creeper' in the night they would hear.
It was the time of the 1966 world cup and horror of horrors the place had no TV set......all the lads were gutted.
The farmer and his family lived in the same building...we were just separated by a locked door.
When it was the day of the Final they arranged for the farmers family to bang on the door everytime England scored......it was hilarious.
We had a lovely two weeks away, and because of the isolation we spent very little.
When we got back home I thought that mums attitude was softening a bit.
D*** was pushing for us to get married as soon as possible, but we had nowhere to live...... we had looked for places but they were all out of our reach.....especially as we would have to buy even the most basic of furniture. It looked as though we were going to be engaged for a long time......then D***'s mum came up with a masterplan......she said we could get married and live with her.....that way we would be able to save more and get our own place sooner.
It was about the middle of August, we decided that we would get married on the 3rd of October.
It seemed ages away, but we knew it would soon come. To be continued
We had very little money to spend on such extravagances......I said he could buy a curtain ring and I would be happy with that.
'But your finger will turn a nasty shade of green' he said.
'Whatever ring we buy today is only a token......when we have some money to spare I will buy you something really special' he told me.
We went to a really old fashioned jewellers on Blackburn Road......when D*** told the man in the shop what our budget was he said 'well mate you won't get much for that'
He showed us a pad with about 5 rings on it......I chose one with two tiny chips of diamond in it......we joked and said these must be the 'sweeping ups'...... but the ring fitted and it was placed on my finger with great ceremony......D*** kissed me, there in the shop.
The chap said 'whoa lad have you not had any breakfast' but in a good natured sort of way.
We walked out of the shop and went for a celebratory drink in the Blue Dahlia coffee bar.
I kept on looking at my finger with the ring on it........I never dreamed that this day would come.
The last time I had been in the Blue Dahlia was after we broke up...... and I left in tears.
It all seemed like a bad dream.....disturbing, but distant and not a threat any more.
We had our coffee and then walked up to Oakhill Park.....it was a dull day but my heart was exploding with sunshine and I felt like I had a glow around me.
The next big question was...... when were we going to get married.
That was a tricky one. Neither of us had any money. I had been coughing up most of my wage to my mother. That was going to have to stop......she would not be pleased with that news. We had to do some serious saving if we wanted to get married, find a place to live....oh and furnish it.
D*** asked if the hanky panky ban would be lifted.......I put my head on one side and said that I didn't think so.... but then again it might!
I went home and told my mother that I intended to just pay board as we needed to save up to get married.... her face was as black as thunder and she just went 'Hmmph'......I asked if she wanted to look at my ring..... but she acted as if she hadn't heard me.
I showed it to my Dad instead......'Do you really know what you are doing?' he asked.
'I do..... I know that we can be really happy......I would like you to be happy for us too'
He asked when we were going to get married...I told him that I didn't know. It would all depend on how quickly we could save up some money.
Well, you know that me and your mum can't afford to pay for a wedding'
'I would not expect you to Dad' I told him....'I want to do this for myself'
'Good luck to you both' he said.
Well, he had taken it far better than my mum.
Although D*** and I met at every opportunity we rarely went anywhere that cost any money......I didn't mind.
We spent a lot of time at his place and his mother made me feel very welcome.
We would watch TV and she would sometimes go to Bingo or for a drink with the women she worked with......while we snuggled up together on the sofa.
We were becoming more and more passionate and I was finding it hard to keep D*** at arms length......we were going to have to get married soon or there would be a reason to rush things.
My heart wanted me to give in and make mad passionate love...... but my head kept saying 'NO'.
The local holidays were coming up.....my parents were taking our brood down to a farmhouse in Abersoch......I hadn't been asked to go......and if D*** had not come back into my life I would have been staying at home on my own.
Now that he was back in my life things had a slightly different complexion....they asked us to go on holiday with them.
This was a total surprise....... but then I overheard a conversation between my mum and my dad. They thought that if they left me at home on my own for two weeks I would have D*** over to stay for that time and there would be rampant sexual activity.
I didn't let them know that I had overheard this conversation. I was hurt that they had so little trust in me.
I told D*** and he said that maybe we should go ahead and let our natural urges rip..... just to spite them.
No... we wouldn't do that.....we would go away on holiday with them.
I thought it might give my mum a chance to see how much we cared for each other.
My Dad was driving down in their Escort Esquire. There was not room for us so we went down by bus.
The bus took as far as Pwhelli and there my dad picked us up.
The farmhouse was lovely, but isolated. It was about 30 minutes walk to the beach by the road, but 10 minutes across the fields.
We went to the beach every day.......D*** got sick of the half hour walk and asked me why I wouldn't go via the fields......I told him it was because of the cows......'what is the matter with the cows?' he asked
'nothing, except I am scared of them'
So what did he do.... he piggy backed me to and from the beach each day.
There were 4 bedrooms in the farmhouse.......there were 6 boys with D*** they were split between two bedrooms......Mum and Dad had a bedroom, and me and my three year old sister were in the other bedroom.
My bedroom was also next to that of my mum and dad..... so if D*** had any plans to be a 'carpet creeper' in the night they would hear.
It was the time of the 1966 world cup and horror of horrors the place had no TV set......all the lads were gutted.
The farmer and his family lived in the same building...we were just separated by a locked door.
When it was the day of the Final they arranged for the farmers family to bang on the door everytime England scored......it was hilarious.
We had a lovely two weeks away, and because of the isolation we spent very little.
When we got back home I thought that mums attitude was softening a bit.
D*** was pushing for us to get married as soon as possible, but we had nowhere to live...... we had looked for places but they were all out of our reach.....especially as we would have to buy even the most basic of furniture. It looked as though we were going to be engaged for a long time......then D***'s mum came up with a masterplan......she said we could get married and live with her.....that way we would be able to save more and get our own place sooner.
It was about the middle of August, we decided that we would get married on the 3rd of October.
It seemed ages away, but we knew it would soon come. To be continued
