Out of the blue a couple of weeks back I was contacted by the father of my ex-girlfriend (there is only one person in this category). It got me thinking about someone that I haven’t thought about for a long time. She was really someone very special.

We met on a weekend away with friends just before I moved to Africa, and during my year in Congo we wrote to each other regularly. She had a beautiful soul, fascinated by the deep mysteries of life and faith. She’d send me handwritten letters with poems she’d appreciated, we’d talk about life, and she encouraged me to stay in Congo in those inevitable first few weeks when I had my doubts. I felt I’d met a kindred soul, sharing the magic of quotes, poems, music and books.

At distance, she became my closest friend for 11 months. Then, when we met during a holiday we convinced each other to try going out for a trial month. A month later, at distance, we concluded things couldn’t work, and the relationship (romance and friendship) ended there, rather sharply, though to my knowledge, without bitterness. In some respects it’s a sad tale – such friends and soul-mates are rare. But I wanted also to celebrate something very beautiful in its time.