Tahlia's version of the story:

I first met Albert at Curundu Jr High in '94. We were classmates and passing acquaintances for the first year, and then when we moved up to the high school the following year, we took drama together and became friends. We did two school productions together (Fruitcakes & Once Upon a Mattress) before my family got another assignment in '96 and I had to say my goodbyes to everyone at Balboa. For some reason, it never occurred to me that this charming, deeply sarcastic boy who brought me presents like hockey ticket stubs and wrote me letters after I'd moved away, *liked me* liked me. (If anything, he was obnoxious for the sake of being so!) We reconnected by chance after I noticed that he was missing from our 20 year reunion and the rest is history. He not only made me fall head over heels for him, but made me fall in love with his family and his country too.

Albert's version of the story:

Apparently Tahlia and I had met in Jr High, but honestly I was scared of my shadow back then. I finally started coming out of my shell in High School after I decided that I’d like to start taking Drama. It was there that I noticed this “Wednesday Addams” looking girl with red hair. It was a combination of her looks and her mature demeanor (mature for our age of 15) and that she wasn’t either off chasing football players or too full of herself to talk to me. I found myself trying very hard to impress this girl. I stayed up nights writing short stories just to have her proof read them. But, as things went in the Canal Zone at that time, everything was transitory. I went off to the military after high school and she went off to England. Fast forward a few years (about 12 or so) and Facebook comes along and links the world together. Suddenly everyone you knew in high school is at your digital doorstep. Naturally we stayed in touch infrequently through pictures, post comments, and the like. One day a few years later, Tahlia asked me why I had not gone to any of the reunions. That conversation led to a few more, and then a few more, where we discovered we were only a few hours away from each other. “Things” that should have fallen into place MANY years ago finally started to take shape, and here we are!

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