하지만 미래를 약속하지 못한채 끝났던 영화와 달리 진짜 결혼까지 가게 된 '영화보다 더 영화같은 사랑 이야기'가 눈길을 끌고 있다.
20일 더타임스 등 영국 언론은 스티브 스미스(42)와 카르멘 루이스-페레스(42)가 16년 동안 서로를 그리워하만 하다 우연히 10년전 날아온 연애편지를 찾아 지난 17일 결혼식을 올렸다고 보도했다.
17년 전 영국으로 유학온 루이스-페레스는 스미스와 1년간 사귀다 가게 운영을 위해 프랑스로 돌아가게 되면서 이별한다.
몇년 뒤 스미스는 루이스-페레스를 잊지 못하고 그의 어머니가 살고 있는 스페인 집 주소를 찾아 "결혼은 했는지, 아니면 아직 나를 생각하고 있는지 궁금하다. 가능하면 연락달라"는 내용의 편지를 보냈다.
편지를 받은 루이스-페레스의 어머니는 벽난로 장식장 위에 올려놨지만 안타깝게도 이 편지는 벽난로 뒤로 떨어져 지난 10년간 파묻힌 채 개봉되지 못했다.
하지만 운명의 장난은 길지 않았다. 루이스-페레스는 집안 개조 작업으로 벽난로를 들어낸 곳에서 빛바랜 편지를 발견해 읽었고, 고민 끝에 그가 적어 준 전화번호를 찾아 전화를 걸었다.
두 사람은 며칠 뒤 16년만에 파리에서 재회했다. 스미스는 "우리가 다시 만났을 때 마치 사진 필름 속 장면과 같았다"면서 "공항으로 달려가 서로를 껴안고 눈을 마주친지 30초만에 키스했다"고 말했다. 루이스-페레스 역시 "내가 평생 사랑해오던 남자와 결혼했다"며 기쁨을 감추지 못했다.
남녀관계에서 결국 중요한 건
얼마나 서로에게 적절한 시기에 등장하는가이다
미칠듯이 끌리고, 죽도록 사랑해도
서로에게 적절한 시기가 아니고
기가막힌 타이밍이 아니라면
어쩔 수 없다
서로에게 기가막힌 타이밍에
서로의 인생에 자연스레 등장해 주는것
그래서 서로의 누군가가 되어 버리는것
그게 "운명"이자 "인연"이다 <댓글중>
-기사 원문-
Happy ending for Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez after letter is found
A tale of true romance that skipped a decade after a love letter went astray
has ended happily ever after with the couple getting married.
Steve Smith and Carmen Ruiz-Perez first met 17 years ago in Devon when they were both in their twenties and Ms Ruiz-Perez was a foreign student. They fell in love and became engaged but after a year-long relationship they drifted apart when she moved to Paris to run a shop.
A few years later Mr Smith tracked down her mother’s address in Spain and wrote her a letter in the hope of rekindling their romance. Ms Ruiz-Perez’s mother put the letter on the mantelpiece, from where it slipped down the back of the fireplace and remained unopened for the next ten years.
In literature, and in particular the novels of Thomas Hardy — also set in the West Country — such a mishap would have been the cause of years of unhappiness, the lovers marrying the wrong person and at least one of them suffering a tragic and untimely death.
But for the real-life couple, fate took a more down-to-earth hand when the fireplace was removed for renovations. Ms Ruiz-Perez, who had remained single, was given the letter and rang the phone number that Mr Smith had written on the note. They met up in Paris a few days later, rediscovered their old love and married last week.
Mr Smith, 42, a factory supervisor from Paignton, said: “When we met again it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other’s arms. We met up and fell in love all over again. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing. I’m just glad the letter did eventually end up where it was supposed to be.”
Ms Ruiz-Perez, 42, said: “I never got married and now I’m marrying the man I have always loved. When I got the letter I didn’t phone Steve right away because I was so nervous. I nearly didn’t phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again. But I knew I had to make the call.”
At least she had the sense not to write. Hardy’s Tess of the
d’Urbervilles depicts a darker version of what happens when letters get
lost. Tess’s missive to Angel confessing her past slips under the carpet, so
that he marries her in ignorance, with tragic results.
Another Hardy novel, Far from the Madding Crowd, shows the consequences of misunderstood communications. As a joke Bathsheba sends William Boldwood a Valentine’s card with the words “marry me”. He takes her seriously and embarks on a courtship that leads ultimately to tragedy.
While Shakespeare was a fervent believer in the use of letters to advance his
plots, it was a verbal message that led to one of his greatest
misunderstandings. When Juliet takes the potion that renders her apparently
dead, Friar Laurence is meant to send a messenger to Romeo telling him what has
happened. The messenger, of course, never arrives.
기사 출처 : http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/relationships/article6719737.ece
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