real life
For Helene Clynch, 41, her teen crush became so much more
Gathering up the morning’s post, I scanned the letters. I’d signed up to a pen-pal scheme through school and loved getting letters from all over the world. I was 14 and living in Germany, and the letters helped me with my English. In time, most of my pen pals fell by the wayside – but there was a handsome boy in the UK named Geoff, who I’d been pen pals with since I was 13. When I saw I had a letter from him, I was excited. “Sorry I haven’t been in touch,” Geoff wrote. He explained he’d been having a tough time and hadn’t felt up to writing. He added, “Hearing from you has been a ray of light.” My heart f luttered. We exchanged letters weekly, and the words f lowed. Even at 14, Geoff ’s letters swept me off my feet.
Sometimes, I ran to a nearby phone booth and called him, but as soon as I heard his voice, I’d get nervous and hang up. Once, I put on some lipstick and kissed a piece of paper. Then I placed it in an envelope with a letter to Geoff. Later, he wrote to suggest a phone call, not realising I’d secretly called him before. I nervously waited by the phone, but when it didn’t ring at the agreed time, I wondered if he’d forgotten. An hour later, Geoff finally called. “You’re late!” I said. “No I’m not,” he replied. We laughed when we remembered the time difference between the UK and Germany.
I loved hearing his voice, but we were both nervous and the conversation felt awkward. So, I suggested sending each other tapes instead. We recorded songs we liked and sometimes recorded ourselves singing along.
When Geoff was 16, he visited Germany with his dad and brother, and we met for the first time. Walking up to the hotel, suddenly, I saw Geoff running towards me and my heart pounded. Then he kissed me and my nerves melted away. “It’s so good to see you,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re here!” I replied. We strolled hand-in-hand as I showed him the city. Although our dads couldn’t communicate in each other’s languages, they bonded over a few drinks and laughed as they tried to pronounce some German and English words. There was a slight language barrier between Geoff and me, but we quickly worked it out.
After a lovely week together, Geoff returned home and I was heartbroken. But we kept photos of each other on our bedroom walls, and chatted on the phone for hours. We even made multiple choice quizzes to get to know each other better. Months later, I f lew to England for the first time, with a friend, to spend New Year with Geoff. I had a great time and from then on, Geoff and I f lew back and forth to see each other every few months. Being in a long-distance relationship had its challe
