We fell in love when he was 17 and I was 13, but we were too naive to take it anywhere, tried again just as I was going to unversity and he was going into the Army (Thailand/Vietnam era) and couldn't make it happen then either. I never forgot him, and we reconnected and married last year.
I always feared the intensity of both our emotions and sexuality, pushing away because of it. It was all-consuming, and I didn't know what to do with that, afraid of the loss of control and the loss of my self. Now that total connection is what I love most -- the intimacy can be so complete and yet we separate and become our own persons quite easily. He inspires me. Thirty-five years after the last time I saw him, he thrills me.
He tells great stories from a half-lifetime without me and laughs at mine.
I love that his children and grandchild have become a family with my son and parents and that we both respect the other parents of those children.
All in all, if our previous lives were what it took to prepare us for the richness of what we have today, I certainly could never beat myself up for mistakes made when young. I'm not sure we would have made it together then anyway.