Helga was a student in Berlin when she met Peter for the first time. Like her, he was studying history and they became great friends. They shared a love of music and often went to clubs together to hear new bands.

When they left university, Helga stayed in Berlin and Peter went to work in London. At first, they kept in touch. In those days, nobody had mobile phones and Helga spent hours writing lengthy letters to Peter. However, she was disappointed when he usually replied with postcards, and eventually she stopped writing, though she still remembered him with affection.

Helga is 52 now, and she works in an art gallery. One day last summer, she was sitting at her desk in the gallery, when a man came in. As he walked by, she noticed that he was looking at her in a strange way. She thought he looked familiar but at first she couldn’t think who he was. Then she realised it was Peter. They were very surprised and happy to see one another.

Peter told her he was in Berlin for a work meeting and was visiting the gallery because he had a free afternoon. They arranged to meet for dinner, and they didn’t stop talking all evening. They were even more surprised when they discovered they were both married to teachers and both had 28-year-old daughters called Miriam! Lucy arranged to visit Peter and his family in London. She took her daughter, and now the two Miriams are great friends too!