Apr 19, 2016 3 min read

If you’ve read this column, you may recall me writing in February about someone I met on an overseas trip back in the 1990s. His name was Alfio, and he was from Italy. We became pen pals but lost touch after a year or so of correspondence via good old-fashioned letters (now referred to as “snail mail”).

When my friends and I planned our recent trip to Italy, I decided to try to locate Alfio, but I couldn’t find any old envelopes with his address. Our correspondence took place just before email became available to the masses, but how hard could it be to find someone in this digital age with Google, Facebook and Twitter? I searched and searched until I finally tried LinkedIn and found a match for his name and location. I still wasn’t certain this was my Alfio. There was no photo, and his profile was in Italian, which made my detective work even more difficult. Finally, I decided to write this mystery person a message, which included an apology right off the top in case he was the wrong Alfio.

After a few days, hope faded. After a few weeks, I decided it either wasn’t him or he didn’t remember me. Once we were in Italy, we were so busy sightseeing and eating gelato I didn’t take time to try to find a phone book. (Do they even print those anymore?) I sighed and thought Alfio was destined to be just a fond memory.

Then, a few weeks ago, a message pops up from LinkedIn member Alfio. I nearly fell off my chair. Could it really be him? I eagerly opened the message and … it was in Italian. Two months of pre-trip language cramming allowed me to determine that, yes, it was indeed my Alfio. I found him! I eventually translated the entire message, which was very sweet and said that, yes, he did remember me, was happy to hear from me and he was alive and well and living in Tuscany.

In fact, his village is about 30 minutes from where we spent most of our second week there. He also included his photo. I was overjoyed! I know what you’re wondering, and the answers are yes: He is bald, he is married and he has five children. Five! And all of them are adopted from Chile and Africa. I couldn’t make this up if I tried. While my hopes of rekindling a budding romance and moving to Tuscany with my new Italian husband are dashed, I am excited to reconnect with an old friend. And there’s more good news: Alfio and his wife own a flat in Florence they rent to tourists. It’s a mere two blocks from where we stayed. What a small world! Maybe he will give me a discounted rate. And maybe he has a single brother.

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.