1977 December

In 1977 my best friend ‘J’ was already in her second foundation year at Art College. It was quite cool having an older mate at college as I got to do more mature stuff ….. namely partying, pubs & clubbing it.

I was never asked to show ID in any venue as a teen because I looked and acted older than my youthful years, thankfully that has reversed a bit now I am older and although I feel 40 something I have been told I don’t look or behave like a 40 something (lol).

I would call at the Art College after school (following a quick change out of uniform of course) to meet ‘J’ and grab a quick coffee or something to eat.

On this one occasion I noticed this boy looking at me from across the studio. ‘J’ introduced me to him and I thought little more about it after that.

In Novemeber‘J’ and I went to the Art College Do at the Midnight Lounge attached to the Southport Theatre.

It was a ‘Black & White’ do. It was really good fun and that night the ‘boy’ was there too.

On the 15th December we started dating.

What my Mum thought about this romance I can only now imagine being a parent of a teen. Her tactic was to let it be hoping, I suspect, it would fizzle out but it took 7 years for that to happen!!

For the purposes of this blog I will call him …….? Gosh I can’t think of a name that would suit him. I’ll let you know about what I decide in my next post.

So all the good intentions of keeping my head down and studying a hard for my O’levels went totally down hill. A whole brave new world opened up for me, like a kid in a sweet shop…….. I have scanned through the two 1978 diaries tonight (yes 2 diaries! Why? I have no idea) and I am amazed at the late hours I kept, the places I went to and the total lack of dedication I had in studying for my exams………… (oh how I have to keep this fixed in my head when my teen is doing her G.C.S.E.s!!!)