Finding Your First Love.
The first Relative Connections Wedding.
My name is David Oates, I’m the Head Researcher here at Relative Connections, you can view my LinkedIn profile here.
I am also the director of an Ofsted registered adoption support agency.
Maybe we can’t be sure but this is certainly the first one we’ve found out about.
We’ll let Mary tell her own story…
Bill and I go back to when I was engaged to him when I was just 16 years old. Just after our engagement, Bill received his National Service call-up papers for the Army which had been deferred due to his Apprenticeship. He came home once on leave and then was sent to Germany for the rest of his National Service. He was one of the last people to be called up as National Service finished shortly afterward.
My mother was never happy with Bill, he wasn’t good enough for me in her eyes. In any case, she felt I was too young to be engaged but I just couldn’t cope with him being away. My mother was unapproachable and didn’t understand how lonely and confused I felt.
In the end, I wrote Bill a letter explaining things and he came home on compassionate leave but it didn’t go well and we had a huge row and he stormed out. I remember feeling utterly devastated as I had never seen him angry. Sadly that was the last time I heard from him.
I now know that he wrote to me on three occasions but the letters were returned, why we’ll never now know. And that’s the long and short of it all the way back in 1960 when Bill somehow became my long lost love.
We both moved on with our lives but at the same time we never really did. We bumped into each other on a couple of occasions – I got married in 1964 and so did he, just not to each other! Then in 1969, he phoned me and we talked about our young families but that was the last contact we had with each other for many years.
I had tried to find Bill over the years. After all, I knew his whereabouts in 1969 but having tried several searches I was unable to trace any records of him. I kept trying but without success.
Finally in October 2015 after many failed attempts I decided enough was enough and it was time to try a professional people finder organisation to help me find my lost love. I came across Relative Connections and felt they were experts at dealing with such matters. They seemed to be the right people to help with my search. It took me three weeks to pluck up the courage to ring them but when I finally did and I gave them all the information it was a relief.
It turned out to be the best decision I could have made.
Jake was my researcher and he had the task of trying to locate Bill. He tried a full search of the UK but without success. I told him to try Australia as I had a gut feeling Bill could be there.
A few weeks before Christmas 2015 Jake called to say that he had located an address in Australia and also found Bills son. Jake wrote to the address and also contacted Bills son. There was no response for over 3 months! I was gutted but Jake told me to be patient as sometimes these things take time, how right he was.
During Easter 2016 Bill’s son finally made contact with Relative Connections. He explained that Bill only recently moved back to the UK!
Jake my researcher and Sue Relative Connections intermediary specialist got to work and quickly contacted Bill to tell him I was looking for him and to ask if it was OK to put us in touch. Mary was away with friends but said she would call in the next couple of days, the date & time was set. I deliberately planned it to be on my birthday!
We finally got to speak to each other for the first time since 1969 and it was like the years just melted away. The call lasted two hours! At last, the love of my life and soulmate had been found!
Within a few days, I was on my way to see him. He met me at the station with a beautiful bouquet of red roses and a huge grin spreading from cheek to cheek. It was as if we had never been apart.
Within two months Bill had moved to Cornwall to be with me and we finally got married in May 2018 with our families around us. Soulmates back together at last forever.
I would really recommend Relative Connections. If you want to know how to find your lost love they do have the answers
If anyone is thinking of getting back together with your first love years later then I would say, do it! At least try.
What a wonderful story.
If you would like to discuss finding your own first love then feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
** It is with great sadness we must update that Bill passed away in Mary’s arms on Saturday 25th August 2018. Mary wanted their story to be shared. To give hope to others who are looking for someone missing from their lives. Her message was simple never give up and don’t wait until it’s too late **