Call it what you will — kismet, fate, destiny, divine will, karma, predestination — I believe in it. This is why it’s easier for me to swallow than most, perhaps, that two people actually fell in love over Instagram.
It’s hard to believe, I know, but that’s the truth of what happened to Matt Fleming and Robin Coe. It didn’t happen with a bang, or with a flash of insight, but with a simple “What’s up?”
Unromantic, I know, but this is the 21st century, not a bygone era. We work with what we can — don’t hate.
This is what went down: Robin had posted a photo of someone walking a dog with her hometown of wintery Toronto in the background. Matt, who lived in Oakland, Calif., was reminded of his childhood in the Midwest and decided to message Robin as a result.
Her reply, of course, was the “What’s up?”
Matt told her, all right, sending her an eight-paragraph diatribe about his childhood and what memories her photo had brought back for him.
Although he didn’t have her at “hello”, he did steal her heart with those first few heartfelt words.
“He was just so endearing and sincere. I could feel the warmth in his words,” Robin told MSN’s The Heart Beat. “I’d long been struggling to find my place on this earth, and despite the differences in our individual circumstances, I could relate to every single word. I didn’t hesitate to write back.”
After months of emailing, their relationship progressed to Skype, which resulted in one epic 13-hour call. And bam! They were smack dab in the midst of a long-distance relationship without ever actually having met face to face.
In April of 2012 they finally met in person and the rest, as they say, is history.
Says Robin: “I was at the end of a five-year relationship…I was fully immersed in the process of getting comfortable just being on my own. I was happier than I’d been in probably a decade. And, honestly, I think that’s why we found each other. I finally had room in my life to let in a little light.”
Long distance love, she vows, can work. “We do our best to have our next visit planned before we say goodbye. Those goodbyes are excruciating, and having something concrete to look forward to can ease the pain a bit.”We’re in it together, and we remind each of that every single day,” she says.
There are three things I want to say here. One is to reiterate that love can happen anywhere. Don’t sniff at social media, or meeting someone via online dating or even checking out your friend’s friend on Facebook. Don’t be so close-minded! Secondly, if it’s meant to be, your relationship will work out…which brings me to my last point. Should you find yourself in the middle of a long-distance relationship like Robin and Matt are, both you and your respective other need to work twice as hard as a normal person to make love last. There has to be trust, there has to be communication and there has to be lots of Skyping.
Most of all, trust in the universe. When it’s right, it’s right. How will you know? All that doubt and uncertainty will vanish. Yes, at long last you will be happy.
