First love never dies

Cherry Healey roots for the searcher in “First Love Never Dies.”

Some diehard romantics who have loved and lost keep thinking about their first love, and why it didn’t work out.

They believe in the tattered but trusty truism, “First love never dies”—and wonder if, given another chance even after the passage of many years, they could finally make a go of their first and therefore best beloved?

Viewers who agree with them should watch the new Lifetime reality TV show, “Find My First Love,” because it’s right up their alley.

In the provocative program, a searcher is asked to recall his or her first love, why the relationship didn’t last, and what else they could do to see it through, if given another chance.

The telecast we viewed last week focused on lovely and perky Sarah, an American who met James, an Australian bartender in Chicago, and promptly and giddily fell for him big-time.

Unfortunately, the affair with James didn’t last for long, but she still cared enough for him to wonder if she could find him—and try again to make the romance work.

With the show’s host, Cherry Healey, helping her every step of the way, Sarah went on the romantic comeback trail, and had an easier time locating her former flame.

But, it still turned out to be quite an exciting and confounding expedition, because her flighty first love was quite a footloose and fancy-free traveler.

They met in Chicago, she flew all the way to Australia to look for him—but finally tracked him down—in Norway! Now, that’s quite a trip and test of her romantic resolve.

Happily, it was worth her while, because when they finally met again after some years, the “spark” was still there—and, fingers crossed, could be fanned again to brightly blazing flame!

The telecast we watched recently turned out to have a “bonus” treat for viewers, because it included a “progress report” on a few of the “romantic reunions” it had effected last season.

The show appears to have a good batting average in terms of success stories, relationships that are still in full romantic “rebloom” to this day.

What makes the program’s renewed relationships work? A plus factor that other lovers on the rebound can learn from is the fact that the searchers don’t set “fantasy” and thus unattainable goals for themselves.

They are realistically made aware of the risks and dangers involved, like the very real possibility that their beloved has found someone else to care for. It takes two to tango, so timing is everything.

And, don’t live in the roseate and idealized past, because people do change and evolve, so what’s key is what the parties involved have become now, not how they were before.

The program’s host helps a lot in this regard—she’s clearly rooting for the searcher’s happiness, but she keeps reminding her or him of the pitfalls and self-delusional disappointments that lurk at every turn.

If things don’t work out, or they end up in a puddle of tears and regrets, they have only themselves to blame!