Teenager summer love: after 26 years united

Teenager summer love: after 26 years united

When the American teenager Kerri Cunningham was dragged to Europe by her parents in the summer of 1993, she was anything but enthusiastic. "Dragged" may sound dramatic, but this is exactly how 14-year-old Kerri felt the journey at that time. Her reaction to the vacation plans was characterized by the typical youthful attitude: "Oh, that takes the summer vacation, and I would rather depend on my friends." Leaving her beach town in the Hamptons, New York, was the last thing she wanted.

an unexpected adventure

"I was very afraid of the trip", Kerri today told cnn travel . In retrospect, Kerri says that at the time she really had a "spoiled, teenity". The trip initially started in the United Kingdom, followed by France and finally culminated in a two -week bus tour through Italy - an incredibly good opportunity that she did not appreciate at the time. Today Kerri realizes how luck she was: her parents wanted to show her daughters the world. But for the teenager kerri, the thought of the time far from her life in New York was overwhelming.

a crucial meeting

The first days of the trip went uneventful for Kerri, at least in their eyes. While she murmured through the United Kingdom and with the other tour participants a ferry from Dover, England, to Calais, France, she was glad that two of her sisters were on this trip, but remained with the dislike of the trip. "And then I saw Dirk," recalls Kerri. "And suddenly everything got better."

While the ship crossed the English Channel and the white cliffs from Dover moved into the distance, Kerri's parents came into talking to an English family, the Stevenses, who were also on the way to the continental cruise to Italy. Like Kerri, Dirk, her 15-year-old son, was a reluctant companion on family vacation. But his smile caused Kerri's mood immediately. Kerri found him "so attractive". "I was enchanted immediately," she admits. "During this time, Hugh Grant was really popular and he had such a young Hugh grant hairstyle. As an American girl, Hugh Grant was the man."

a summer full of memories

The two teens soon sat side by side, exchanged headphones and listened to music from Kerris Walkman. Her parents also got on quickly. "We immediately got into conversation and got on well," recalls Dirk. Her fathers were similar and had fun taking things apart and reinventing.

When the group left the ferry in France and climbed the bus to Italy - with stops here and there on the route - the connection between the two families grew. "Our fathers were somewhere in a pub or got a drink, and the mothers went shopping," says Kerri. The friendship of her parents strengthened the connection between Kerri and Dirk, and she admired how Dirk dealt with his family. Dirk, whose father was sitting in a wheelchair, often helped navigate his father across the paved streets of Italy.

Kerri was impressed, as Dirk always saw "the positive side in everything". His friendly and cheerful way made a lasting impression on her. "I had never met someone in my age who was so with himself and his family and accepted me and my family like this," says Kerri. After long conversations with the parents and while Kerris sisters were busy, Kerri and Dirk stole time for each other.

a reunification of the heart

At the end of the two -week tour, the Cunninghams and the Stevenses promised to stay in touch. There were already plans to see each other again the following summer. However, the farewell was anything but easy for the two; Dirk describes it as "terrible". "Just when you find someone special, you have to say goodbye," he recalls.

The Cunninghams and the Stevenses remained in contact in their respective home towns. "I still know that we exchanged information to each other," says Dirk. A plan was forged: the Stevenses would visit New York in the summer of 1994 and live on Long Island at the Cunninghams.

The trip to love

During the countdown to see again, Kerri and Dirk wrote letters, sent magazine articles and reported on their lives. They enjoyed long telephone calls. "My father was very strict, so I wasn't allowed to make calls with many boys," says Kerri. Dirk was an exception. "In contrast to other boys in our age, he was not afraid to make calls with my parents," says Kerri.

The year passed like a flight, and when Kerri Dirk finally looked on her Long Island beach in the summer of 1994, she felt "like at home". Her first thought was his warm welcome: "Darling". "I know that is an English affair," says Kerri, "but when he called me 'Darling', it was difficult for me not to melt." The two spent every possible moment together, enjoyed long nights and strengthened their connection, even if they were aware of the uncertainties of the future.

The course of time

After their summer in New York, Kerri and Dirk continued to write letters and on the phone, but when they ended the school, communication unfortunately became less and less. Talling them every two months became the norm until the conversations failed to fail. In the mid -1990s there was no easy social media to stay in touch.

Both were very busy with their studies, work and their life. Nevertheless, they often thought of each other, even if they were not in contact. The two families kept in touch. "My mother told me about Kerri and her family," recalls Dirk.

fresh start in adult

in 2001, while Kerri was facing the university and a painful loss, Dirk asked her mother to invite Kerri and Dirk to Paris. Kerri accepted and the anticipation grew to see you again. When Dirk picked her off the airport in February 2001, it was as if they had never been separated.

The second romance started in Paris and brought a special atmosphere with it. The two adult children would have acted very differently - they had mastered their stages of life. But the review of their childhood and the connection that bridges them thousands of miles, they agreed that they had never stopped raving for each other.

Together into the future

Today, six years after their reunification in Ireland, Kerri and Dirk are a couple in their forty and live together as a team. Through their families they remain connected to the events in their lives and enjoy the well -deserved time together.

Kerri reflects today: "We have again strengthened the band that has always connected to us. This feeling that we are created for each other never becomes weaker." She adds: "The moral of our history is to stay spontaneous and life, even if it is challenging to enjoy to the fullest. In the end we have always come together."