When I was 17 I fell in love. Hard. He was about 23, I think and I do remember his name was Mark. He had just passed out in King’s Squad, at CTC Lympstone, as a Royal Marine. I also remember him saying he came from Lincolnshire, if I remember he was from Boston but I could have been mistaken on that one. He was also about 5’7″, had short dark hair and the bluest eyes I’d gazed into.
Anyway, my friend and I walked into a pub called the Turk’s Head, (no longer there) and walked passed a group of young guys. We sat just down from them and my friend said “I don’t want to alarm you Jac, but one of those guys over there won’t stop staring at you”. Well of course, being shy and young I was very much alarmed at some guy staring at me! I suggested he may have been looking at her but she was adamant, “no, because when you went to the bar, his eyes were on YOU and not me”. Well shit.
After we met up with friends, I didn’t see him again that night. Then the following weekend, I saw him with his friends again. And he was making it more obvious he was giving me eyes. All I could do was smile shyly and drop my eyes and blush. I was horrendously shy.
We kept this up for another couple of weeks until he took the plunge and approached me to talk. He was delightfully funny and just smelled SO GOOD! Almost all the time he would smell so good. Even though we got talking, I was far too shy to ask for anything more than friendship and for some reason, he never took it further even though he made it fairly clear he was definitely interested.
Then he left after for Plymouth and I didn’t see him again. I was distraught. I cried for weeks. Nothing I could do.
Then about a year later I bumped into him in town. He told me he was based at Plymouth, but I still was too scared of being rejected by him to ask him for lunch or anything. I then spent the next 35 fucking years hating that decision. I guess he’s happily married with kids by now.
But if he’s out there somewhere, and he’s not up to his neck in wives, kids and whatever else, he’s more than welcome to get in touch. All my details are available on my FB page. Further details: I believe he passed out in the Spring of 1988. He was in Plymouth the following year, I know that much. I don’t know if he’d still be an active marine now as he would be about 57, so unless he was injured and left that way, maybe he’s still serving? I dunno. I just wish I could find out how life is treating him.
Maybe someone in Lincoln or in the Royal Marines may remember him? If so please let him know someone from his long forgotten past says hello!