On a day like this,

5 years ago, the boy and I met. It was Christmas day and we were both flying to Mexico, to visit our respective families. Well, he was visiting his dad, and I was going home for the Holidays. I've thought a lot about all the little coincidences that made possible our encounter and how that changed our lives for good. At the time I was studying in Barcelona, so there was no reason that I would fly through Amsterdam, except, that KLM had the best available price. So thank you KLM, for that. And yes, we both decided to fly on the 24 of December because that's when you get cheap fares. But if you are travelling from Europe to the American continent, then you can still make it for the Holiday celebrations on time.

Another funny thing is that we were sitting next to each other because we both changed the seats that the online check-in had assigned us to different seats for the same reason. That is, we were aiming for the emergency exit (more space for the legs) and since those seats were taken, we figured, oh well, let's take the seats one row behind the emergency exit.  Not that those seats are any bigger than usual, but there you go. Do you realize? We both followed the same thought process to end up seating next to each other. I had arrived on time at the airport (since my flight from Barcelona to Amsterdam had left at 6 in the morning) but I spent the whole morning wandering around the airport and getting all kinds of presents, like a bottle of Absinthe that my dear little brother had requested, perfume, tulip bulbs, wine for my dad and Double-tipped Bruynzeel markers for myself. (Oh how I love to highlight when I am reading and making summaries).

So I arrived to the gate barely on time, and when I reached my seat Mark and his brother were already in their places. I had the window, them the center and the aisle. Of course by then all the space in the overhead compartments was taken, so the boy, gentleman that he is, kindly offered to put some of my stuff under his seat. I don't know exactly how it is that we started talking. I probably asked them where they were from and what they were going to do in Mexico. Yes, at times I can resemble an agent of the CIA. I remember I was reading, and he asked me what book it was. "Acquiring genomes", by Lynn Margulis if you're curious. He on the other hand was busy with "A history of the Middle East".

 Later on I was working on a clinical case for a school assignment and I explained the whole story to the boy, dachshund with Heinz body hemolytic anemia. (Bottom line, do not , ever let your dogs or cats eat onion or garlic, whether it is cooked or not as it can damage the Hemoglobin in their red blood cells and make them sick). I also recall that one of the films they played was Scoop, and how we discussed that we never really get Woody Allen. (Although recently we saw Midnight in Paris and liked it quite a bit). During the flight I ate a Stroopwafel for the first time and I liked it so much, that he asked his brother to give me his, and gave me his own so I could bring some to my mom and sister. It definitely felt like the shortest 12 hour flight I've ever taken. In the end we exchanged emails in one of those airplane sickness paper bags. Actually, he got my email (I didn't get his, but he promised he would write and he did. By the next day I had his first email). I remember when he saw I had gmail he was all happy and said something like: "-Oh, cool we can chat". And gmail chatting we did. He also said he would call, and if I have to be completely honest I did not really think he would. But he did.

This is the boy calling me on New Years Eve 2006

The  holidays were over fast, as always, and when we were back in Europe we sent to each other parcels filled with typical candy from our countries. Then started a long year where we would email each other every now and then, until a year and 2 months later, he came to see me in Barcelona. And we've been together ever since.