You just really never know

I had an idea for my post ready to go tonight, but there’s another story I feel the need to share instead. Meet Maria and Adam. They met in L.A. a couple of years ago when Adam was getting his MBA from UCLA, and went out on several dates. Before it became very serious, Adam received an offer upon graduation to work for a Fortunte 500 company overseas -- Bangkok, Thailand to be exact.

Not sure where things would take them, they agreed to keep in touch and see what would happen. Over the course of two years, they e-mailed, chatted online and phoned each other regularly. Though it may seem improbable to some that any sort of real affection can develop through these means, it did for Maria and Adam. He was able to take a trip back home one Christmas with a couple of days to stopover in L.A. to spend time with her. That was the only time they’d spent face-to-face in two years.

Maria is originally from Mexico and passed her American citizenship exam last year, and was waiting for the paperwork to clear so she could travel on an American passport and visit Adam over in Thailand. Waiting over six months became too frustrating and once she found a ticket from L.A. to Bangkok for $300, she knew she just had to go. This was two weeks ago.

She arrived in Bangkok only to discover that anyone who is not traveling on an American passport must also have a visa to enter the country. She called Adam on his cell to tell him she arrived and that she was informed she had to go to Malaysia to obtain a visa before she could return to Bangkok. Maria also spoke with Adam’s Thai roommate, using her to interpret. She finally gets everything straightened out, though is wondering why Adam won’t answer his cell phone or hasn’t come to Malaysia.

She arrives in Bangkok to find out from his roommate, that Adam was killed in a car accident less than an hour after she originally landed and had phoned him about her entry problems. He was on his way to her at the airport. Strangely, the roommate didn’t tell Maria what happened over the phone as she felt Maria needed to get through the visa issues first and then return to Bangkok.

Maria also found out Adam was planning to propose during her visit. So, instead of a joyful reunion, Maria spent the next several days packing up Adam’s belongings to be shipped back to his parents in Indiana.

Maria and I share a mutual friend (though we’ve met a couple of times), which is how I heard the story today. Suddenly the things I’ve been blogging about the past couple of days seem so trivial in comparison to what Maria’s having to go through. I’m sure she would gladly have squawking tenants in exchange for Adam to still be alive.

Though I know there’s nothing anyone can really say to Maria to take away her grief, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I share this story in an effort to honor what they had and the risks that they were willing to take, which I find truly admirable. Maybe it will put things into perspective in your own life and appreciate what you do have, or it might give you the courage to pursue what you don’t.