All this and Stephanie, too
Once upon a time, there was a Kevin who was in college and working hard to get good grades. He loved astronomy and took a class in it, and naturally did very well on his first test. Much to his surprise one day, a complete stranger walked up to him and asked if he'd tutor her in astronomy because she'd failed the first test. Now in those days, a Kevin was a quite solitary creature who never got too involved in anything because he feared it--tutoring someone was the last thing he would ever want to do. The young woman was so insistent and sad, however, that he relented. Thus was born a most unusual partnership that became a friendship. He helped her pass Astronomy with an A-. She helped him get his first real job, since she worked in the college placement office. When it was time for the semester to end, she asked him to be her friend and come to meet her friends. He, of course, panicked at that and that she was engaged to someone...and said no. He did change his mind a week later and went to the placement office to tell her...but it was too late. She'd gone. And he never saw her again.
That Kevin was, of course, this one. The fateful year was 1988, and the young lady was named Stephanie. I never forgot her. I wanted so much to find her and tell her how wrong I was and how sorry I had been all these years that I made the wrong choice. I did try looking for her online without success. Sunday, a friend on Facebook did one of those '25 Random Things About Me' posts and then challenged a bunch of her friends to do the same. I took up the challenge, and one of the random things I wrote was how much I regretted that one choice--perhaps more than any other in my life. After I wrote it and posted it, something told me to try looking her up again on Facebook...and twenty years and change later, there she was.
I wrote to see if it was her...and it was. She friended me instantly.
We have begun exchanging e-mails about what has happened to us over the past two decades. She did marry the guy she was engaged to, had two children, but divorced after 18 years of marriage. She's pretty upfront that she wants us to just be friends, and that's fine with me. But you know what? She never forgot me. Somewhere, she says, she still has a star map I drew for her all those years ago. I have a deeper sense of peace now. One less ghost to haunt me in my dreams...and someone who might have been one of the best friends I could have ever had might one day take that place after all.
That Kevin was, of course, this one. The fateful year was 1988, and the young lady was named Stephanie. I never forgot her. I wanted so much to find her and tell her how wrong I was and how sorry I had been all these years that I made the wrong choice. I did try looking for her online without success. Sunday, a friend on Facebook did one of those '25 Random Things About Me' posts and then challenged a bunch of her friends to do the same. I took up the challenge, and one of the random things I wrote was how much I regretted that one choice--perhaps more than any other in my life. After I wrote it and posted it, something told me to try looking her up again on Facebook...and twenty years and change later, there she was.
I wrote to see if it was her...and it was. She friended me instantly.
We have begun exchanging e-mails about what has happened to us over the past two decades. She did marry the guy she was engaged to, had two children, but divorced after 18 years of marriage. She's pretty upfront that she wants us to just be friends, and that's fine with me. But you know what? She never forgot me. Somewhere, she says, she still has a star map I drew for her all those years ago. I have a deeper sense of peace now. One less ghost to haunt me in my dreams...and someone who might have been one of the best friends I could have ever had might one day take that place after all.