How it can happen

An old college friend came through town. We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years, but I had heard the great story of how she had met someone online and moved to another country to be with him. There was no news for awhile, and I wondered how it was going. And all of a sudden, this past weekend, she was here. We sat and had sandwiches and soup and coffee; everything was the same and yet everything was different. She was there. She was happy. It was a wonderful thing to see. Strange and wonderful how two people on opposite sides of the world can find each other and make that connection. And even greater that in these days, they can actually make the move, commit to the decision, and journey to their happiness, without having to wait for it to come to them. She regaled me with anecdotes, little tales of what their new life together is like, all the details of which I pulled together as though I were gathering my own little pile of colored confetti. They are now exploring the region, trying to decide in seemingly newly-wedded fashion where they will settle and make their life together.

This is not the only story. My mom told me another love story of the digital age. And my colleague at work yet another. People go on holiday in another country and meet someone, and from there they parlay it into something real. A romance. A relationship. No longer do you hear the antiquated, hum-drum or ho-hum? tales of highschool sweethearts or college courtships. This is the way it can happen these days, and when it works, just as it does conventionally, it's a wondrous thing, indeed.