Excerpt: 'My Boyfriend's Back'

Feb. 10, 2005-- -- In the new book "My Boyfriend's Back: True Stories of Rediscovering Love with a Long-Lost Sweetheart," the former first lady of New York City, Donna Hanover, talks about her experiences with an old high school sweetheart. They reunited more than 30 years after their break-up and later married. The book also includes stories of similar reunions among couples all around the nation. Experts are calling it a 21st century relationship trend. Read an excerpt from the book below.

More than three decades after we last dated, Ed and I began our first walk through Central Park. I pointed out some of my favorite sights-- Bethesda Fountain, the Great Lawn, Belvedere Castle. When we passed the world-famous Central Park restaurant, Tavern on the Green, I shared with Ed some of my experiences there.

It had been the scene of several live broadcasts when I was a correspondent for Good Day New York. As New York City's First Lady, I had been honored to blow the air-horn near the landmark restaurant, heralding the start for thirty thousand women gallantly fighting breast cancer with their 5K "Race for the Cure."

We had a million things to talk about. But one moment will forever stand out in my memory. In a gesture that was practically drawn from a young girl's daydream, Ed took my hand and apologized for the way he'd ended our early romance.

"It was all my doing," he assured me. "I had no reservations. I didn't wish you were different or want you to change. And there was no one else. I just didn't want to be tied down. But it was the dumbest thing I ever did," he said. "I was just too young to know what I had, and I'm sorry I hurt you."

I was completely shocked that he had carried the memory of those feelings for more than thirty years. I'd been very sad when we split up and it touched my heart to hear what he was saying now. As he apologized for his actions like they were still fresh in his mind, his strength of character and kindness were compelling. They were qualities I admired greatly in him.

When Ed and I finally parted that day, neither of us knew what the future held. I only knew that I had spent an incredible afternoon with my high school love. He was a little older and wiser, but no less handsome or thrilling than I remembered him. In fact, he honestly still looked young to me -- like an improved version of his previous self, complete with new wisdom, experience, and compassion.