Valentine’s Day is near. It is simultaneously, one of the most loved and hated days of the year. No matter how you feel about the day itself, this time of year just lends itself to talking about matters of the heart.
Telling stories about love is not simply the same as telling love stories. Love comes in many forms. It's the earliest emotion we feel, the one that moves us the most, for better or for worse. This week, as we always do, we’re talking to people. And the tie that binds all of this week’s people is their hearts. Everyone has a story of the heart. It’s the most common of threads in the enormous tapestry of life. Sometimes our hearts tell a happy story, sometimes it’s a sad tale. Sometimes our stories involve putting our pieces back together and moving on.
Each day… a different person… a different story…. a different reason… a different heart. One love.
Telling stories about love is not simply the same as telling love stories. Love comes in many forms. It's the earliest emotion we feel, the one that moves us the most, for better or for worse. This week, as we always do, we’re talking to people. And the tie that binds all of this week’s people is their hearts. Everyone has a story of the heart. It’s the most common of threads in the enormous tapestry of life. Sometimes our hearts tell a happy story, sometimes it’s a sad tale. Sometimes our stories involve putting our pieces back together and moving on.
Each day… a different person… a different story…. a different reason… a different heart. One love.
YOU RECENTLY GOT MARRIED, RIGHT?
"I did. I got married on December 29th. Which is weird I know because it was a Monday."
WHY A MONDAY?
"It was a special date for us and since we had approximately 15 people attending we weren't really concerned with inconveniencing people. We knew that that was the date we wanted no matter when it fell."
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DATE"
"We were together a long time ago and split up for a bunch of reasons that were really out of our control. I went on and lived my life, he went on and lived his. We wound up reuniting after a lot of years apart. Luckily things worked out for us the second time around. The 29th was our anniversary."
HOW LONG WERE YOU APART?
"A long time. 25 years."
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO RECONNECT?
"Facebook. I know it's cliche. I was going through a divorce and he wasn't married. I saw his name come up as a mutual friend on a friend's page."
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? HAD YOU BEEN IN TOUCH PRIOR TO THAT?
"Not really. I mean, I had run into him from time to time through the years. There was no bad blood or anything. Things just didn't work out for us. I always cared about him though. Thought about him from time to time. When I saw his name come up, I just thought, "why aren't we friends already?" and I clicked "request". I really had no expectations at all."
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
"He accepted my request and we started talking. Not about anything important at first. But then we wound up meeting in person and talking. I think it just brought back a flood of emotions. At first it was like, of yeah, this is nice. It was nostalgic. But then we both realized that we had a lot of emotions going on and we needed to sort through them. I was afraid that I was reacting too quickly because I was in a weird place emotionally, having just gone through a divorce that was not even final yet."
SO HOW DID YOU SORT THROUGH IT?
"The idea was to take some time apart. I figured that he would realize that it was a mistake and I would realize that I was just rebounding and things would go back to normal."
OBVIOUSLY THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED?
"No. We made it about 4 days. I was miserable. He was miserable. The funny thing is that we were both trying to hold out longer. So one night we both went out to the same place, with a group of people we both knew. As soon as he walked in and saw me, he got the biggest smile. I knew at that moment that it was not a fluke. I knew that our second chance was really meant to be."
HOW DID YOU GET FROM THERE TO GETTING MARRIED ON A MONDAY NIGHT IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF 15?
"It just happened. After that night he told me that he wasn't going to let me go again. And that's when I got really freaked out. I hadn't even signed the finalized divorce papers. But when I thought about the idea of losing him again, it was just crippling. I had never felt like that. Not even about my husband of 18 years. Not about anyone. Like, the feeling that there will never be enough time to spend with that person. Like no matter how many years we get to have together, I will still pine for the 25 that we lost."
BUT YOU WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THAT SECOND CHANCE, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T EVER GET THAT?
"I know. I am so grateful. It's so cheesy to say if it weren't for Facebook... but it's true. I mean, I believe that no matter what or how, our paths were going to cross again. If it hadn't been from his name popping up on my Facebook, it would have been somewhere or something else. We were meant to be. I don't know if we were too dumb to see it the first time, or if we both just needed to grow and figure our own stuff out. As much as I hate the 25 years that we lost, I look forward to the next 25 more than anything I have ever looked forward to in my life!"
"I did. I got married on December 29th. Which is weird I know because it was a Monday."
WHY A MONDAY?
"It was a special date for us and since we had approximately 15 people attending we weren't really concerned with inconveniencing people. We knew that that was the date we wanted no matter when it fell."
WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DATE"
"We were together a long time ago and split up for a bunch of reasons that were really out of our control. I went on and lived my life, he went on and lived his. We wound up reuniting after a lot of years apart. Luckily things worked out for us the second time around. The 29th was our anniversary."
HOW LONG WERE YOU APART?
"A long time. 25 years."
HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO RECONNECT?
"Facebook. I know it's cliche. I was going through a divorce and he wasn't married. I saw his name come up as a mutual friend on a friend's page."
WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION? HAD YOU BEEN IN TOUCH PRIOR TO THAT?
"Not really. I mean, I had run into him from time to time through the years. There was no bad blood or anything. Things just didn't work out for us. I always cared about him though. Thought about him from time to time. When I saw his name come up, I just thought, "why aren't we friends already?" and I clicked "request". I really had no expectations at all."
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
"He accepted my request and we started talking. Not about anything important at first. But then we wound up meeting in person and talking. I think it just brought back a flood of emotions. At first it was like, of yeah, this is nice. It was nostalgic. But then we both realized that we had a lot of emotions going on and we needed to sort through them. I was afraid that I was reacting too quickly because I was in a weird place emotionally, having just gone through a divorce that was not even final yet."
SO HOW DID YOU SORT THROUGH IT?
"The idea was to take some time apart. I figured that he would realize that it was a mistake and I would realize that I was just rebounding and things would go back to normal."
OBVIOUSLY THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED?
"No. We made it about 4 days. I was miserable. He was miserable. The funny thing is that we were both trying to hold out longer. So one night we both went out to the same place, with a group of people we both knew. As soon as he walked in and saw me, he got the biggest smile. I knew at that moment that it was not a fluke. I knew that our second chance was really meant to be."
HOW DID YOU GET FROM THERE TO GETTING MARRIED ON A MONDAY NIGHT IN FRONT OF A CROWD OF 15?
"It just happened. After that night he told me that he wasn't going to let me go again. And that's when I got really freaked out. I hadn't even signed the finalized divorce papers. But when I thought about the idea of losing him again, it was just crippling. I had never felt like that. Not even about my husband of 18 years. Not about anyone. Like, the feeling that there will never be enough time to spend with that person. Like no matter how many years we get to have together, I will still pine for the 25 that we lost."
BUT YOU WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET THAT SECOND CHANCE, A LOT OF PEOPLE DON'T EVER GET THAT?
"I know. I am so grateful. It's so cheesy to say if it weren't for Facebook... but it's true. I mean, I believe that no matter what or how, our paths were going to cross again. If it hadn't been from his name popping up on my Facebook, it would have been somewhere or something else. We were meant to be. I don't know if we were too dumb to see it the first time, or if we both just needed to grow and figure our own stuff out. As much as I hate the 25 years that we lost, I look forward to the next 25 more than anything I have ever looked forward to in my life!"
