The Happy Ending... (but no need to cue the sunset)

This, of course, is not the end. It's not even the beginning.

Somewhere here in the middle, however, the Prof. and I have passed a landmark and have made our relationship official. This is the secret that was revealed in the CBC interview posted below: We got married on Dec. 4!

When I started writing this little romantic story, only a few days after we'd met, I thought that I might have a chance to start writing where most movies leave off -- to honestly capture the happily-ever-after part that's supposed to play out after the credits have rolled. I'd wanted to write about what happens AFTER two people decide to be together and run off into the sunset -- without any idea how this whirlwind would work out. What I didn't realize, however, was exactly how many decisions would be involved in making this leap; I hadn't considered the fact that when approaching a sunset, the horizon line will continue to move.

So... over the past year and a half ... whoa.

Many, many things have changed -- me included.

Me, pre-leap: I was 33 years old, on the brink of buying a house in the suburbs. I had a good job in journalism and a good group of friends, but in general, I'd been feeling uninspired. I'd also begun to wonder if I'd grown too old for inspiration.

Then, I met the Professor on a hike in Gatineau, Quebec one Saturday at the end of the summer.

And, I made the decision that first began this leap: In September 2009, after basically nine days of knowing this Frenchman while I was still in Ottawa, Canada, I boarded a plane to go and live with him in Nice, France -- a place I'd never even visited before.

(Here are the articles from the Toronto Star that tell the story from the beginning. My Twitter story begins two months later and this blog begins a month after that.)

After a few months of fumbling through our language difficulties, the Professor and I then decided that I should get a year-long visa so we'd have a little more time to smooth out our cultural differences (some of which were crushing, some actually freeing).

And now: We've made another decision to run off into the sunset together. But the real one. The BIG ONE.

I know I've skipped many details in the past few months, but I didn't really think I had a choice. I wasn't trying to be secretive, just honest. I wanted to make sure that I was making this decision for me. Well, for us.

That said, I'm going to spend a few Mondays going back in time to fill in the gaps that I've left. (One of those gaps being how an awkward and exciting whirlwind can finally mature enough to make its way into the mayor's office.)

My resolution for 2011, I guess, is to go back to 2010 and to fill in the blanks.

In the meantime... I would love to hear more tales of other people's romantic leaps. The emails I've received so far have been heart-warming and heart-breaking, inspiring and even hilarious. They've also helped me get through some of the tougher parts of being here in France, away from my family, friends and everything else that's familiar. writekerrymacgregor(at)gmail.com

Happy New Year!