As part of my digital decluttering, I looked at the photos on my phone - most are screenshots of things I want to remember to do, places I want to go, books I want to read, etc.. One of those was an announcement for the Christmas special for As Time Goes By (which has been on my mind a lot, given the attention paid to the shipping forecast 🔐). Another of my favorite shows has been Last Tango in Halifax.
What do they have in common? Besides great acting, etc.? The theme: two people, in love (or deeply in like), who reconnect later in life and love (re)blooms. It's a great fantasy. Life, on the other hand...
I know someone who had a high school girlfriend. They were in a special program together, so spent a lot of time in the same classes, not to mention sharing similar interests. Even in college, he kept wondering "what if...", even as he met another woman he wanted to marry. 50-ish years later, they reconnected. He admired the life she'd led since high school: overcoming physical and emotional difficulties, seemingly happy in her current life. But the time apart meant they'd really diverged in terms of interests, hobbies and, to some extent, values. Even worse? This first love, one he'd still - all these years later - thought the occasional "what if..." about? She clearly hadn't thought about him in decades. Things they'd done in high school were not even vague memories to her.
It goes without saying, he was depressed after their one, and probably only, meeting.
I know someone else who had a crush on a guy in high school. And middle school. 30+ years later, she found his work address and wrote him. Take a guess as to how quickly he responded.
While I love the fantasy of those two tv shows, and get the warm fuzzies when I hear about people reconnecting years later... I know that tripping down memory lane can lead to a sprain, or worse.