Julie

In some pub in Farnham, Surrey in 1983 my life changed forever when I fell in love for the first time. I have only truly fallen in love three times in my entire life.

- Ian Kirke

I clapped eyes on a shy-looking girl at a work reunion and she literally stole my heart. Although I had just joined the police and was meant to be comfortably assured, I couldn’t summon the confidence to even speak to her. I just didn’t want her to say no.

A few days later, with her firmly on my mind every waking hour of the day I called her at work. I recall having to practice my opening line repeatedly since I didn’t want to come across as some sort of weirdo. Even repetition didn’t excuse my clumsy ice breaker – “Hi Julie, it’s Ian, the guy who came to your work do. I was wearing the brown leather jacket.” There was a silence that seemed to last an eternity, broken by the news that she did remember me. I asked her out, she accepted, and my heartbeat recorded a newly elevated status.