26 Greatest loves of my life. Let's call him....Peridot. #atozchallenge

It started in the Spring of '89.  Peri was 18, well travelled, tall and handsome. He had no concept of jealousy.  He was chivalrous, spontaneous and a bird lover.

He took me places I'd never been. The ballet, faraway mountains and the depths of my imagination. When we ate breakfast at Melbourne's fanciest venue, the Hyatt on Collins, his eyes sparkled while Edith Piafs Non, ne je regrette rien crackled over the speakers. He wanted to impress me. I remember thinking it was weird he liked opera! We were an unlikely pair.

In a time when a landline was the only form of communication, I planned chance meetings. I waited for the phone to ring. Checked the dial tone when it didn't, and tried to think of good reasons to call him. I practiced sounding genuine.

Fate bought us together - over and over again.  Destiny, and his lust for walkabouts, kept tearing us apart. He came in and out of my life like a proverbial yo-yo, oddly that's what he used to call me. Our relationship status was 'if you love someone let them free,' when they come back they're yours, but only for short bursts of intense drama"

It was a long-distance, drawn out relationship. For years I dreamt him beside me and woke with empty arms. It became an obsession that manifested into an A-grade addiction. It spawned journals, poetry and lyrics to unfinished rock ballads.

It was all 9 planets aligned, love at first sight, don't tell me it's not true love, I'll always love you, no-one understands our love, I want you to be a mountain, you'd rather be a river, cliche after cliche, unrequited love.  Neither of us found what we were looking for.

Letting go was the lesson. Cry me a waterfall, but the year finally came when I couldn't cry anymore. I let go of the fantasy.

Peri taught me that my words affected other people, in ways I couldn't predict. Emotions didn't exclusively belong to women. Men feel too.

Have you ever invested all your emotions into one person? Fallen in love with someone you thought was an Eagle (partner for life) but turned out to be more of a Rooster?

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26 Greatest loves of my live
#atozchallenge

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26 Loves of my life. Let's call him... Erik. #atozchallenge

Erik loved all the girls and all the girls loved Erik, as long as I was chosen as his number one,  I was a happy little vegemite.

Truth be known, Erik is a combination of 3 primary school boys that spurred stiff competition amongst the girls.  The first Erik fell in love with Jemima, and we all thought he could have done better if he had chosen someone else, one of us, me.

The second Erik remained elusive, he didn't want to hurt anyones feelings and flirted with all the girls.

The third Erik had his own harem. Every playtime, 6 or 7 of girls would compete for his attention.  At the end of every lunchtime, he would arrange his harem in order of most loved to least loved. The last few girls had buckley's chance of ever being picked first. The middle few changed rank on a weekly basis, second and third changed daily.

I was his number One. I got a say in where the other girls were ranked. I also got to walk back to class with him. I was chosen first in every game and never doubted my position.  Until the end of year approached I began to worry about how him changing schools would change everything.

He was the recipient of my first love letter and my first break up letter.

Dear To Erik,

If I had a choice I would still be your girlfriend.
Next year you start high school, I wish we could see each other still but I don't think we can because we won't be at the same school. Don't worry there will be lots of girls at your new school.

love from Ida

26 Greatest Loves of my Life #atozchallenge
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He said he wasn't worried. The two girls I remember most were his second and third picks.  Do you know an Erik, was he worth fighting for?

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I am away for the weekend and look forward to catching up with comments and posts next week. 

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I use #atozchallenge when sharing my favourite posts.

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*** Read more about:  The A to Z challenge  My theme and links to all 26 Greatest loves of my life.

26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Cazaly #atozchallenge

Cazaly was full of energy, always misbehaving and the best Aussie Rules Footy player in school.  In second grade all the kids had to hold hands as we walked into class. I started falling in love with him when I noticed that he lined up next to me, all the time. It was only natural I learned to how to play football.

After weeks of perfecting my kicking and marking skills, I asked him if he wanted to be boyfriend.  He agreed, on one condition. Did I barrack for the Magpies?

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Well, of course I said YES.  I knew nothing about the professional football league and had no idea who or what the Magpies were. My Mum told me their real name was Collingwood and they wore black and white. I watched my first game of football that weekend. I didn't understand the rules and couldn't tell the difference between the teams colours on our black and white TV.

Our romance blossomed over shared lunches and games of kick to kick every playtime. The dilemma of whether to play on the same team so we could win together, or opposite teams so we could stand next to each other, was a difficult decision.

As my passion for gymnastics, swap cards and skipping rope grew, I lost interest in being tackled and chasing an egg shaped ball.  I rarely keep up to date with football results anymore either - but if you ask me who I barrack for I'll probably always sing out loud - "Good old Collingwood forever, they know how to play the game, side by side we stick together, to uphold the magpies name..."

Did someone you love influence the loyalty, to your favourite sports team? Why does our loyalty for the players change but never the team?

Have you ever seen Aussie Rules football? Here's an advertisement, with a song dedicated to the real Cazaly, from the 70's. It still gives me goosebumps, 'there's a lot more to footy than really meets the eye.'

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26 Greatest loves of my life - Let's call him Adam. #atozchallenge

In Grade Prep my favourite game was kiss chasey, especially if Adam was playing.  It took days before someone was brave enough to suggest another game. Some kids protested, but most of us had our secret missions planned.

It was the only game of tag, where I didn't mind being 'it' first. Maybe it was his lanky legs but Adam was always easy to catch. When it was his turn to do the chasing, I would slow down and deliberately skip across his path. The hardest part was making it look like we didn't want to be caught.

Adam's mum let him buy me a hair clip with a butterfly on it, and I was the first girl to get an invitation to his birthday party. It was a weekend party and the first I was allowed to go to on my own.

On Saturday morning his present was wrapped. Mum was making alterations to my party dress and I was playing on my favourite tree. A big walnut that doubled as my acrobatic bars. I tried to do a back flip off the sturdiest branch and I crash landed and broke my wrist. No party for me. Doctors orders.

We didn't have a telephone. I had no way of telling Adam that I couldn't make it to the party.  I tried everything to convince my parents I was well enough to go. I even begged them to take me, so I could give him his gift and tell him I couldn't stay.

I was sure he would be upset, maybe even drop me. I thought about running away. I pretended my arm didn't hurt. I cried and yelled and got my knickers in a huge knot, until exhaustion finally wore me down.

By Monday morning, the martyrdom on my left wrist had set. Armed with Adams present my Mum dragged me to school. We met Adam and his Mum at the gates. He'd saved a party bag of lollies for me. My cast became the centre of attention.

I told Adam I wasn't allowed to play games like chasey.  He suggested I walk instead of run. It made perfect sense to me. So we waited, until someone was brave enough to say "who wants to play kiss chasey?'

26 Greatest Loves of my life #atozchallenge
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I wonder if the next two times I broke my arm was for a similar type of attention?

Have you ever played games, or bent the rules just a little, to get closer to a person you love?

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Find out more about the A to Z challenge,  my theme and links to all 26 Greatest loves of my life.