[2004] FAMILY HOLIDAYS   

0121 Spain and Pat

The main feature of my 1959 Spanish holiday was that I met Pat. This may have been why otherwise I found Spain rather boring.  But no one could accuse my tempestuous affair with Pat of being boring!

I first came into contact with her, face-to-face, in a nightclub in Barcelona.  It was an interesting evening, since the nightclub was actually in the open air, in a courtyard in the centre of some old buildings.  It did not start well when, on entering, I leaned nonchalantly against a pillar -- only to discover it was a giant cactus!

I should say, in explanation of what followed, not merely was I still virgin -- not unusual in those days even at the age of 19 -- but I was also incredibly shy and didn't even know how to approach girls.  But I had had my dancing lessons, and my parents pushed me very hard to dance with one of the two young girls who were on the trip.  This turned out to be Pat, and my life was never the same again. 

For the rest of holiday the four youngest of us made of a foursome; myself and Pat, my roommate Jim and Pat's roommate Lorna.  We were all, we decided, civil servants of one form or another. Anyway we got on very well with each other.

After dancing with Pat and starting a foursome, on returning to the hotel I went to my bedroom with Pat. Jim and Lorna went to hers.  I was so nervous my hands were trembling, but I still managed to get into some heavy petting with Pat. I almost fainted as I undid her bra, and was - almost for the first time - able to see a girl’s breast!  It went no further, however, than some heavy petting, exploring her body with my hands (for the first time ever). But, where I had almost never kissed a girl before, this was a revelation -- almost a revolution. I should add that, in line with the morality of the times, Keith still ‘saved himself’!

After that we saved most of our energy for our evening trips out.  I well remember Valencia. In the nightclub, as we were dancing, everyone gathered round in a circle to watch us jiving. Jive was something new to Spain. 

But the real excitement was going back to our bedrooms and indulging in very heavy petting.  This was limited to Pat, who had a good body, indeed she was quite a handful!  The only time I deviated from this was when Lorna was in her bed in the same room, with the lights out, and I was invited into her bed as well. The petting there was nowhere near as tempestuous -- but it was pleasant to be in bed with another girl - only (now) the second in my life!

This mild sexual activity now sounds almost boring. But in those days it was sensational, we were a decade ahead of the permissive society, and it set the pattern Pat and I (but not Keith and Lorna) followed all the way round Spain.  What cannot be overestimated is the impact on my life.  All of a sudden I was having sex, albeit only petting, but even this was something that had eluded me earlier in my life!  By the time we got home to England Margaret was forgotten and I was committed to Pat, and I have continued to be ever since!

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