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
s a student in 1989, Alicia went to Washington DC for an internship at the US Senate. “After six months, I extended my trip but I needed a place to stay,” she says. She moved to the International Student House, a hall of residence usually reserved for foreign students. “Although I am American, I managed to get a place. It was a very fun time; I could walk to work during the day and enjoy the nightlife in the evening, as well as communal meals with other students.
That spring, a group of students, including Bart and Alicia, went on a picnic. “That was where we really connected for the first time,” says Alicia. “I thought Bart was a lot of fun and so free-spirited. We are both really optimistic people.” There was no romantic spark, but they quickly became good friends, hanging out together at the student house. “As I got to know her, I was struck by her unparalleled ability to make other people feel good,” says Bart.
In 1995, Alicia won a Fulbright scholarship to teach English in Antwerp, Belgium. “I remember talking to my mum, telling her that I didn’t have any friends there and was feeling lonely,” she says. “She told me to just stay positive and it would happen.” It turned out to be good advice. That afternoon, she saw her old friend Bart in the street. “He looked so different; at first I wasn’t sure it was him,” she says. “The last I heard he was in England, and he looked thinner, with no hair.
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