Re-encountering a special friend

Good friends bring special meaning to life. Thanks to the internet I had the pleasure to literally be 'found' by Gaby, a German friend I came to make back in the summer of 1985 in St. Leonards-on-Sea/Hastings, England. Since the first day we bumped into each other at the English school we were attending, we saw eye to eye with each other, and spent a lot of our time together. Gaby was a great companion, highly intelligent, smart and bright, and those nice walks by the promenade talking about life and literature have stayed in my memories forever. The day I gave her the book Jonathan Livingston Seagull kind of celebrated a friendship we both wanted to last a lifetime. But, naturally, we went our differet ways, exchanged a couple of letters, but then, for some reason, the years went by in silence. This year I got this e-mail, and it was HER trying to find this friend left behind. I was elated for re-encountering my friend. Of course, time had passed by, we were older, now (re)married with children, but the funny thing was to feel that, even through the distance of the Net, that bond had remained intact. But re-connecting it was incredibly fast and thrilling. It was great, and I hope we can re-encounter each other in person some day here in Brazil or somewhere in England, where she has opted for living all these years. To my friend who brought back great memories from a special time, I wish a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year. Salut to Gaby!