IT was a simple instruction that to anyone else would have seemed insignificant.
But for 16-year-old Bernice Gleadle, it was the start of a lifetime of happiness.
The teenager received a telegram from 27-year-old soldier Edward Kozlowski on August 8, 1953, inviting her for a day out to Papplewick Lido.
The pair had first met less than a fortnight earlier at the old Victoria Ballroom.
After a second-date trip to the cinema, Edward sent the telegram to Bernice's home in Bloomsgrove Street, Radford. It simply read: "Meet You Two OClock Bus Stop Take Swimming Suit – Edward + + +."
Bernice, now Mrs Kozlowski, said: "That was the first telegram I'd had in my life.
"I remember being quite impressed. I was 16 years old and not used to courting.
"People were playing out in the sun at the Lido, and Edward was a very good swimmer."
She added: "There wasn't much communication in those days and we had no telephones.
"Edward had come over with the British Army as part of a Polish unit when I met him. Everything was against us because of the age gap and coming from different countries."
But within ten months of meeting, the pair were engaged.
They married at All Souls Church, Radford, on March 12, 1955, and settled in their first house together in Mitchell Street, Radford.
They then moved to St Ann's Wells Road and on to Gedling, having two children, son Ryszard and daughter Elzbieta along the way.
The family emigrated in 1966 to Australia, where Mr Kozlowski served with the Australian Air Force and Mrs Kozlowski worked as a midwife.
They came back to Nottingham in 1983 and settled in Vernon Avenue, Gedling, before moving to nearby Tamarix Close, where they have lived for over 25 years.
Mrs Kozlowski, now 76, also worked as a staff nurse at the Queen's Medical Centre.
In retirement, she wrote and published a book inspired by the couple's early life together, called 'Blossoms of Bloomo'.
She stumbled across the old telegram after friends recently asked her if a sequel novel was in the offing.
Mrs Kozlowski said the telegram also had special significance because later this month, it will be 60 years since she first met Mr Kozlowski, now 87.
But with India's state-run telecommunications company due to send the world's final telegram on Sunday, July 14, she also lamented the end of an era.
"Having sat and watched our four granddaughters tip-tapping on their phones, I can understand why there is no longer a market for telegrams.
"But with telegrams, you have something to hold and look back at.
"I wonder what my grandchildren will have to prompt their memories?
"Recalling such happy moments from a time long ago can be such a joy."
Have you ever received a memorable telegram? Let us know by e-mailing newsdesk@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk.