Fate, when he wants, can be very fickle and unite two people who have not known each other for years. And if not, he tells Steve and DeSande, two friends who lost touch after high school but found each other again. And in the best way, they could hope.
Her story began in the winter of 1979. Designed was a freshman in high school in northern Illinois, near Chicago. "One day I was walking to school without gloves on. I had all my books and art supplies, but my hands were freezing," she said in the interview they gave to The Guardian.
Then Steve, who lived in the same neighborhood, saw the situation. "I was a bit old, but I got to know her," he says. "I saw that she didn't have gloves and asked her if she wanted help carrying her things."
She refused his offer, but when a gust of icy wind surprised her, she changed her mind. After that, they became friends and he was waiting on her street corner to get her books every morning.
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In 1980, Steve graduated and joined the army. "We lost contact because I was constantly traveling," he says. Each made his life: they married other people and had children, but none of the relationships worked out.
In early 2021, Steve came across a picture of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook. "I had a different name than the girl I met in high school, but it was definitely her, so I added her as a friend," he says. They reconnected, recalling their younger years.
"We talked for hours on the phone," Desander says. Two weeks into the chat, Steve realized there was a relationship beyond friendship: "We've always had something to talk about. I'm a bit lonely, but it was like she's known me forever."
I felt the same thing: "I was shy and didn't have a lot of friends in high school, but talking to Steve again was easy." After two months of phone calls, he told Steve Desandy that he hopes to return to Illinois. "There wasn't a lot of healthcare job opportunity in Mississippi and I needed a better income," she says. "I really wanted to come back so I could work."
To her surprise, he told Desander that he was coming to look for her and offered to stay with her for a while. Although they didn't know if things would go well.
Two weeks after they arrived, they realized their relationship was meant to be. That is why, after four months of meeting again, they decide to marry and spend the rest of their lives together.
Steve says they never argue and that their relationship is working out well because they understand each other. He concluded, "We give each other space when we need it, but we also spend a lot of time together. I love everything about her. I'm so happy that I can spend every day with this beautiful woman."