No doubt all women can recall the time and place they lost their virginity, but I am amazed at the clarity of my recollections, especially considering I was somewhat tipsy at the time.
I left school at 17 and desperately wanted to become a nurse. I wasn't able to start at nursing school immediately and had to wait for a place to become available the following spring. To gain some experience, I took work as an auxiliary in an old peoples' nursing home, which was located close to my parent's house.
I loved the work and became particularly fond of one old lady in her 70's who was suffering very badly from arthritis. She had a lovely nature, but the best thing about having her in the home β at least according to other nurses β was her two sons, who visited her regularly. Despite them both being in their early 40's, even to a young girl like me, they appeared very attractive, both tall and handsome. They ran their own building firm and had physiques developed from years of hard physical work. They supported their mum in the home and their visits always set the older nurses twittering and they would make lewd comments about what they would do with them given half a chance. Some of their comments shocked me, as I came from a fairly sheltered background and had only had a boyfriend for about six months. I was at the "experimental" stage of my sexual awakening and although I never admitted it to the other nurses, I didn't fully understand some of their more explicit discussions. I just laughed and went along, trying to appear more worldly-wise than I actually was.
I was often in Mary's room during her son's visits, as she had taken to me as well and preferred me to help her with her needs. She was a lovely Irish lady and her sons had inherited her charm. They were never anything but polite, but would sometimes joke with me and flirt in a teasing sort of way. If their comments made me blush, they would laugh and call me "their mum's little blushing flower".
Anyway, in February, just after my 18th birthday, we were informed that, like a lot of other building firms at that time, Joe and Sean's company was experiencing financial difficulties and that Mary would be leaving the home for a while. As they were both un-married, it had been decided that Mary would go and live with their sister until things improved. A few days before Mary was due to leave, the Matron called me to her office and asked me if I would be willing to travel up to Grimsby with Mary and her sons, in order to give her any help she may need on the journey. Mary had specifically asked for me and I was pleased to help her. I would be travelling with Joe and Sean in Sean's car and would be away for the whole day, as the journey to Grimsby would take at least 4 hours each way. I phoned my parents to get their approval and told Matron that I would love to help Mary.
On the Friday, Joe and Sean arrived at 9 o'clock and between us we made Mary comfortable in the back seat and I climbed in beside her. All the goodbyes were said and the other nurses stood and waved to Mary as we pulled out of the long drive. The journey north was uneventful. We stopped for an early lunch and I helped Mary use the toilets and as we left it started to snow lightly. By the time we were driving through the flat fens past Boston, there was already a fairly thick covering and the countryside looked beautiful.
We finally made it to Grimsby at about 2 o'clock and after spending a while settling Mary in with her daughter, Sean said that we had better get off as the snow was falling heavier and by now the roads were getting covered. Mary and I said a tearful goodbye and I set out with Sean and Joe on our journey home. We drove slowly through the dark afternoon, the headlights illuminating the thick snowflakes, which by now were coming at us horizontally, driven in off the North Sea by a strong easterly wind. We had to drive more and more slowly as the weather deteriorated and when we reached a place called Louth, it was already nearly 9 o'clock and we were informed at a police roadblock that the road to the south was completely blocked by drifts. We were advised to try to find somewhere to stay and they directed us to the nearest hotel. When we arrived, we found that it was already full with other trapped motorists, but the owners advised us that there might still be room at another hotel nearby. We drove there as quickly as the conditions would allow and Joe ran inside to see if they had rooms. He came out a few moments later to tell us that he had taken the last room that was available.
We went inside and up to the room, which was beautiful, except for the fact that it only had a double bed. Joe explained our predicament and the owner said that he would be able to provide a "put-u-up" bed for me if that was OK. Under the circumstances I had little choice but to agree, but I admit that the prospect of sleeping in the same room as Joe and Sean did seem a little odd.
We went downstairs and the owner asked us to order food quickly if we wanted some, which we did β and I went to phone my parents to let them know what had happened. I told them that we had found a hotel β but left out the minor detail of my having to share a room β I didn't want to cause them any undue concern. Promising to ring them in the morning when I knew what was happening, I went off and joined Joe and Sean in the bar. They asked me what I would like to drink and ordered me a Bacardi and Coke β the only drink that I really liked. They were drinking brandy and it seemed that no sooner had my drink been put in front of me, than they were ordering another round. By the time we went to sit down for our meal, I had already drunk 3 Bacardis β more than I would normally drink in a whole evening. They then proceeded to order wine to accompany the meal, so that by the time I had finished eating, I was quite light headed.