This leads to an interesting question ~ one that I have discussed with my husband.
At what age can you fall in love? How young can you be to be truly in love, as opposed to just being friends of different genders? Obviously, the relationship won't (shouldn't) develop as an adult one might, but that isn't what I am asking about.
Both my husband and I had a girlfriend / boyfriend at a young age. I was nine; he was younger.
I didn't even hold hands with my boyfriend, we just spent time together, but he wasn't just a male friend, he was special. Those times hold a special place in my memories of childhood. The feelings I had for him all those years ago were real ~ I still know that now.
And my husband agrees that his love for his child~girlfriend were real.
Of course, as youngsters mature earlier, these kind of first loves can indeed develop into something more ~ something that doesn't really seem right for children ~ and we see girls as young as 11, say, having babies.
So, that was my first boyfriend at age 9; my second boyfriend was when I was 18 ~ and that's who I married.
I did once go to a dance with one boy, and went to youth-club with another, and there were lots of boys in our group of friends, etc, who I spent a fair amount of time with, but they were male friends, not boyfriends. I made sure that they knew this, as well. I wouldn't go 'out' with a boy I just liked, unless he knew that there was no chance of him being my boyfriend. And generally I chose not to go at all.
One boy, who just gave me a lift to a works function (Saturday job), assumed that, because I had gone somewhere with him, I must be going out with him. And he told everyione that I was his new girlfriend. That came as a bit of a surprise. It surprised him, too, when my friend told him that I had just started going out with someone ~ the someone I married 27 years ago.
Last edited by PDM; 04/15/07 02:28 PM.
