Bart, 61 and Alicia, 56, became friends as students in Washington DC in the 1980s. A chance encounter in the 1990s led to a life-changing bond
It was at one of these meals that she first met Bart, a medical student from Rotterdam who was working on some research at the National Institute of Mental Health. “I was living with a host family,” he says, “but I had a friend living at the International Student House, so I’d go there to hang out.” A couple of months later, Bart went to the UK for an internship in Exeter, then another in Seattle, before returning to Europe to continue his medical studies. Alicia went back to university in Indiana to complete her degree in languages and history. “I visited her on the way back to the US and we stayed in touch through writing letters for two years,” says Bart.Please share your story if you are 18 or over, anonymously if you wish.
When Bart saw Alicia approach, he was also uncertain as he thought she was still in Japan. “We suddenly realised and we were both so confused, asking each other what was going on.” He told her he was living in Antwerp and working in the Netherlands. “He said we should get together for dinner that night,” says Alicia. “When we met up, we just talked and talked all night. It was as if no time had passed.”From then on they continued to meet up regularly, as a pair and with Bart’s then-boyfriend.