This was published 7 years ago
First love: Till death, not family disapproval, do us part
I can honestly say it was love at first sight. With his piercing green eyes and affectionate personality, Boris found a way directly to my heart.
Of course, there were others. Ivan, Nicholas and Max to name a few. But Boris was my first.
It was love at first sight when Rachel Browne met Boris, despite her family's disapproval.
Like many youngsters, we were besotted with each other. Any moment we could get together we took. Boris and I were inseparable, enjoying mutual youthful adventures in the bush reserve behind my childhood home and curling up together in the evenings, happy in each other's company. We never spoke much but he was always there for me and I felt he understood me in a way no one else possibly could.
I can't say my family approved. When I confided to my mother that Boris and I planned to marry as soon as we were old enough, she laughed off the suggestion as a childish flight of fancy. I felt she did not take our – admittedly platonic – relationship seriously and could not understand why. Boris and I ignored the naysayers and continued to see each other despite those who said it would never last.
I thought we would be together forever but, sadly, the naysayers were right. I didn't realise it back then but our relationship was doomed.
One day I went to see Boris in our usual meeting spot but he failed to show. At first I wasn't too worried. One of Boris' more lovable characteristics was his unpredictable nature. He was always full of surprises. But as the hours stretched into days I realised to my great distress he wasn't coming back. Had he tired of me and found someone else? Not knowing where I went wrong in our relationship was torture.
My heart ached. But worse was to come. I remember smelling him before I saw him, his untimely end caused by a careless driver on a busy road behind my house. I thought nothing would ever assuage my grief. Well, that was until I met Peter. Call me shallow but our new cat quickly replaced Boris in my affections. But Boris will always be my first.