Yvonne's heart leaped when she saw him. Quickly she camouflaged her excitement with a cool and courteous greeting. "Ramon, so nice to see you after all these years. How are you?"
He lied and said he was okay. The truth is that despair and sadness ruled his every breath, that he had never felt so alone, desperate and hopeless. The years since he last saw Yvonne had exposed him to war, career, marriage, fatherhood, grand-fatherhood and now to death. His wife had been such a good woman. He missed her desperately and without her he felt lost.
That morning, although the last thing he felt like doing was facing the day, he spontaneously followed up on a thought, a whim. He drove for an hour seeking old friends. Those he expected to find, he didn't, but he accidentally found... her. They agreed to meet for dinner to talk about old times. How odd that their paths had never crossed until then.
As Yvonne prepared to meet Ramon, she suddenly felt nervous, guilty and embarrassed. After all, it was she who broke up with him right before high school graduation. Inevitably, she would have to tell him that the handsome, seductive guy for whom she left Ramon, turned out to be a dreadful husband. After her divorce and some failed romantic entanglements, she finally surrendered to a life of routine and she felt content with her family, her grandchildren and her social and community activities. She would not tell Ramon about the constant thump of subtle pain she felt within her heart.
That evening though, as they talked and listened to each other recount their stories of tenderness, love, disappointment and loss, they both felt a shift. It was life turning it's page while laughing.
They never suspected their bond could have been sustained throughout the twirls of so many years. But it was, and it was meant to be.
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I've become friends with Ramon and Yvonne (not their real names) and am fascinated by their love story. They have been together now for about three years. I am an incurable romantic and thinking of their happiness lifts my spirit. Just wanted to share with you.
