South Africa-based Ronnie Carr put out an appeal for information about his first love Alexina Morrison in last week's Leader and days later, Alexina's niece saw the article and phoned her aunt, who now lives outside the area, to tell her. The pair have since exchanged emails and are happily catching up on the missing decades of each others' lives.
The young couple met while Ronnie was working in Stonehaven at an electrical substation when both were just 16 years old. Alexina lived in Drumlithie but worked in Stonehaven at the restaurant below the bed and breakfast Ronnie was staying in.
Ronnie said the pair started going out, fell in love and later got engaged. He was then transferred back to Liverpool, where his family lived, but had a motorcycle accident while driving to work one morning.
He said: "Alexia came down to Liverpool to visit me and stayed with my family for a while. On her return home, to my absolute shock, she broke up with me.
"I have always wondered why and have questioned whether my father was in any way responsible as we were both so young."
Ronnie, who has been married to his South African wife Eve for 26 years, added: "My son has, at last, provided me with the grandson I have longed for, for many years. This event has made me think back to my 'first love' - did she remain in Scotland? Marry? Have children? Grandchildren? Does she, I wonder, even remember me?"
And now Ronnie is able to find out the answers to all his questions, after his appeal was met with a positive response and Alexina got back in touch
He said: "We were absolutely thrilled to hear from her - thank you!"
Alexina, meanwhile, has told the Leader of her shock, when she received a phone call from her niece telling her about the article.
She said: "My niece got in touch to tell me about the article in the paper and I was just absolutely gob-smacked, excited, lots of things. I got a big shock. My niece phoned me, my sister phoned me, it's doing the rounds!"
Alexina added: "I always spoke about him, I always did. I remember he asked my Mum if it was ok for us to get engaged. We were only 16. When Ron moved back home to Liverpool, I just couldn't bear the thought of leaving my home and going down to England - that's why I broke it off. I was just that scared that something would happen to my Mum if I moved away. I even turned down a job in Aberdeen! Then, of course, I got married and my husband got a job in the prison service, so we had to move. We moved all around, from Stonehaven to Aberdeen, to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Perth."
She said: "It just brings back so many memories, and the fact that somebody was thinking about you all those years is so nice. I remember I only went ice skating once in my life and it was with him. I'd never done it before. I loved him to bits, god aye, he was an awfully nice person and I'm very glad to hear that he is happy now."