“Fifty years later, happily married with kids and grandkids, I still think of her almost daily.
A bittersweet longing that I will have until the end.”
Here’s what they had to say:
1.
“I married the one who got away over 20 years later.
No, I never lost feelings.”
u/fabergrad
3.
“The one I truly wanted died last October, two weeks shy of our 35th anniversary.
As I look back on my life, I cant help but feel so incredibly blessed.
All my dreams came true in so many areas of my life.
u/aware_cartoonist_894
4.
“I spent over 40 years pining for the one that got away.
Just an awful situation.
Thank goodness I did.”
u/junebug1923
6.
“Its been 25 years.
We never had closure.
Im now happily married with an amazing child.
But I will always wonder, ‘What if.’
However, I venture to remind myself that Im in love with a memory.
That person doesnt exist anymore.”
u/danedaffodil
7.
“Fifty years later, happily married with kids and grandkids, I still think of her almost daily.
A bittersweet longing that I will have until the end.”
“I still think of him from time to time, even in my dreams.
It’s mostly about sex.
No one since has known my body the way he did.”
u/enlargedbit371
9.
“I was young.
The relationship was too perfect.
We had too many things in common.
I became paranoid about his chivalry.
I thought his loving gestures were a form of control.
He was just a gentleman.
After I broke up with him, he closed his North American office and returned home.
Years later, we met back up when his nephew was touring my university.
I just looked up, and he was standing at my office door with that same shy smile.”
“He’s divorced and still the perfect gentleman.
We’ve remained professional friends and often consult with one another on projects.”
u/no_practice_970
10.
“It’s been years now, and I’m perpetually, chronically single because of it all.
I can’t date anyone because all I do is look for her inside them.
And nobody deserves to be stuck with a miserable, broken-hearted, hopeless romantic like me.”
I called her many years later to thank her for something that helped me improve my life.
I found that she was a hardcore MAGA, and that put an end to any residual feelings.”
u/saltybardog
12.
My life is good, and Im glad to know theirs are as well."
u/weirdbogwitch
13.
I went into a mild shock for a day or two."
u/vauss88
15.
We were young and stupid and never really single/available at the same time the other one was.
My ex has been single for 15 years now.
I feel very fortunate to have had two great loves in my life.
I know many people who have never even had one."
u/kbela77
16.
“I thank God for unanswered prayers.
I wouldnt have my wife of 25 years if I had what I thought I wanted decades ago.”
u/llkahl
18.
We actually still keep in touch and have for 20+ years.
Weve agreed to never actually meet in person, though.
That would be a bad idea."
u/realhausfrau
19.
I thought of mine for many years, but I finally realized he had mentally stayed in his 20s.
I wouldnt have wanted that for myself or my kids."
“In my experience, at least, every truly significant relationship changed me a little bit.
u/bigdougsp
21.
“I feel so lucky that he got away.
I was totally infatuated with him.
In my head, I transformed everything he said and did into genius.
He was incredibly handsome, though.
My husband commented on how shallow and stupid the guy seemed.
I said nothing about the past and I just couldnt see what I saw in him before.”
u/muscs
22.
“I got another chance ten years later.
She is currently in the kitchen making coffee.”
“It’s been 14 years, and clearly, he’s not coming back.
I still miss him every single day.
I just live around it.”
u/wish4111
24.
“If it was a good relationship for you both, you’d still be in it.
I had been hung up on fantasy, not reality.”
I had to choose between him and the man I ended up marrying.
I made the right choice, but I never quit regretting that I had to choose at all.
So be careful with the relationship nostalgia.
Time might show you that it was for the best after all.”
u/nakedonmygoat
25.
“There is one particular relationship from 35 years ago that has stayed with me.
“Ive never lost feelings for the love of my life.
We were young, and he left me.
We are opposites in many ways.
We went on and had relationships with other people.
None of them worked out for either of us.
Weve stayed in contact almost all of that time.
We now speak every day.
He is always there for me in a jam.
I guess we both know it couldnt work, but theres still a lot of love between us.
Sometimes, something is better than nothing.
I couldnt have him as a lover, but I could have him as a friend.”
u/dridibits
27.
“My husband considered me the one who got away, so he found me on Facebook.
We’ll be married for 15 years on New Year’s Eve.”
u/twiggyrox
28.
“Mine passed away very young, age 32, and I was 25.
You never get over that.”
Just, ‘Well, that could’ve gone a lot better.’
It’s perspective, time, and distance.”
