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NEW YORK CITY — Love at second sight? A rare phenomenon, but that's exactly what happened between two long-lost friends who finally found each other again after being apart for 40 years.
In the age of Facebook, Twitter and search engines at the tips of your fingers, it's hard to imagine not being able to find friends, and even acquaintances, when you move. But before the Internet, it was a lot easier to lose touch with people.
João Crisóstomo and Vilma Kracun first met in London in 1971 through his then-fiancée. Kracun had just moved from Yugoslavia to work as a nanny.
"I found her very attractive, but above all she was a wonderful young lady," Crisóstomo, now 68, told New York Times. "She radiated joy, and it was a pleasure to be next to her. At the time, I could see she was a good human being and that this was a relationship I would like to nurture. But it was only that — a friendship."
At the time, I could see she was a good human being and that this was a relationship I would like to nurture. But it was only that— a friendship.
–João Crisóstomo
Both Crisóstomo and Kracun moved on with their lives. Crisóstomo stayed in London and lived with his sister and sister-in-law. He married and moved to Brazil, eventually ending up in New York. Crisóstomo and his wife wrote letters back and forth with Kracun, until one day one of their letters came back.
"My wife said: ‘Where is Vilma? She is my best friend. We have to find her,'" Crisóstomo said.
And so the search to reunite with their friend began. Crisóstomo and his wife looked for her for more than 25 years. Their marriage ended in 1997, but he continued the search for the next 15 years.
"Friendships are treasures," he said. "I'm very choosy about my friends, but when I decide to be friends with somebody, I keep in touch with them for the next 30 or 40 years. For me, losing a friend is always traumatic."
As fate would have it, on Valentine's Day in 2011, Crisóstomo received good news: His former sister-in-law and her daughter had found Kracun on Facebook.
Friendships are treasures. I'm very choosy about my friends, but when I decide to be friends with somebody, I keep in touch with them for the next 30 or 40 years. For me, losing a friend is always traumatic.
–João Crisóstomo
"I can hardly describe the joy I felt," Crisóstomo said.
He says he never thought to look online because he is not computer savvy.
Kracun, by then a widow, had moved to Paris when she left London in 1979. It turns out that she, too, often thought of her old friends in London, but was at a loss at how to contact them.
Crisóstomo and Kracun quickly made plans to meet in Portugal, but were not able to find a date that worked. That would not stop Crisóstomo — he left to meet her in Paris.
"When he hugged me, I think my heart was in my feet," Kracun said. "Perhaps we were looking at each other through the eyes of youth, but I felt something already that I can't explain."
Before the day was over, Crisóstomo asked Kracun to marry him. She said yes.
When he hugged me, I think my heart was in my feet. Perhaps we were looking at each other through the eyes of youth, but I felt something already that I can't explain.
–Vilma Kracun
"If we had not known each other before, one could call it love at first sight," Crisóstomo said. "Less than two hours after we met again, I found out that she was still the same Vilma that I had known in London. I wanted to make sure she would not disappear again from my life."
They had to wait a while before Kracun could leave her job and move. They kept in touch by Skype, and this past February, Kracun finally moved to New York to be with Crisóstomo. They were married on April 20.
"She was still the pure girl, in the sense that she is what she is. She is not pretentious. She never tries to be what she is not," Crisóstomo said. "She used to be a very special young lady, and she is still a very special lady."
