Soulmates To Strangers: People Share What Happened To The One That Got Away
Anyone who's ever fallen deeply for someone can probably admit that love can cause a person to get carried away. While new romance can conjure up images of wedding bells and destiny, life has a funny way of throwing a wrench into plans.
Redditors recently weighed in to discuss what happened to "the one who got away." The answers are equal parts heartbreaking, hilarious, and downright bizarre. In fact, they just might make you feel better about your latest breakup.
Scorched earth
"He wrote an entire folk album about me that went viral. He broke up with me over the phone, blocked me everywhere, and I only found it because it showed up on my feed. We weren't even on TikTok when we dated."
"Being turned into someone's story and then erased without closure is deeply hurtful,that pain is valid."
That took a turn
"Last I knew, she was in active psychosis convinced Hozier was psychically messaging her, searching for places to live on tinder. I think about her a lot."
"My wife had a co-worker who has psychosis. They were convinced that Drake left subliminal messages for her in his music and that he's secretly obsessed with her. It was weird and constantly dramatic. No idea what she's up to now. She completely lost it one day and never showed up to work again."
Tough to move on
"He died of cancer a few years later. I had to get kind of drunk in order to attend his wake (which I didn't know was open casket). And I was crying almost uncontrollably the entire evening."
"To this day, I have his funeral card (you know, the one with his name, dates, photo, and prayer) in my journal, and I think of him quite often. The time of his passing always makes me tremendously melancholic every year."
Analyze this dream immediately
"Funny- I had a dream about her last night. She was standing in the middle of the road on a bridge, and I pulled up, rolled down my window, and told her that I loved her."
"Then a big crane truck was coming so I had to move on"
Still the same
"He's exactly where I left him. Doing exactly the same thing. I used to think about him a lot until I realized he didn't think about me at all."
"He hadn't moved, hadn't married, hasn't gone anywhere, hasn't travelled, hasn't done anything."
Second chances
"He came back. We got married."
"That happened to me too. He's sitting on the couch playing a video game after making me a hot dog. !["❤️"]("https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/16.0.1/svg/2764.svg")
"
Deadliest catch
"He grew up and got caught by another fisherman 2 years later and was then eaten."
"Took me 4 reads.... I'm ashamed."
Wrong time
"We were young, emotionally immature, and selfish, but man, did we love each other. It truly was that cliche saying of 'right person, wrong time.' We both moved to the west coast after graduating college and couldn't stay away from each other for 5 years, pushing and pulling. I finally had to put an end to it because it was breaking my heart not being together."
"We don't talk anymore but I think of him often. I don't think I'll ever stop loving him."
Keeping the right attitude
"Still in my life, its my son's mother but happy with another man, and I'm happy with my life as well."
"Sorry it didn't work out bud. You seem ok though."
Good influence even if it didn't work out
"He encouraged me to get myself in college. I did, I graduated, and I told him after a couple of years. He was proud of me."
"I don't know where he is now but I hope he's happy."
Unexpected returns
"I saw her last weekend for the first time in over a decade and we spent the entire weekend together... Honestly amazing and we both were really sad when I had to leave."
"We live on opposite sides of the country, so unsure of what to do next but feeling a little confused at the moment. Also, we dated 22 years ago, so this was sort of a big surprise for both of us."
The one that didn't get away
"I always consider my husband the one that would have been 'the one that got away' except I shaped up just in time to keep him. I didn't even know how much I would come to value what I knew he had to offer me, but a smart part of me got enough of a hunch that I said audibly 'I can't let myself mess this one up.'"
"Did a lot of work on myself and got to keep him. When I think about how close I came to losing him early on it's almost paralyzing. I love what I have now so much. I never could have had this life without him. Just so thankful."
Twinsies
"She ended up getting with one of my old friends. Then a year after I moved towns with my new partner, they moved about 8 doors down the road from us. They didn't know - it was a total coincidence. We really thought that alike."
"Then, they had a baby at the exact same time as us, we were literally placed on the same hospital ward. Within hours of each other."
Leave the past in the past
"I couldn't imagine thinking anyone I dated or knew 'got away' from me. There isn't a guy or even a past friend I think about today and wonder. Those relationships ended for a reason."
"Yes! Any relationship that I've been in that has ended, has never ever been my loss. They always come back around but I've never given any of them second chances lol"
Working through it
"He ended up in a horrible abusive relationship for 14 years. She finally cheated on him and discarded him."
"Now he wakes up every day next to me, and I get to love him the way he deserved all along. And give him griefabout how he should've chosen me in the first place."
Life just happens
"We see each other often-ish. I know her kids and both her first and second husband. She knows my wife and kids. We both know it's no one's fault, it just didn't work out, timing wise, back then. It's a thing we live with and will never come to be."
"Life is wild like that sometimes, no fairy tales…"
Showing romantic restraint
"My husband, full stop. Which I eventually did, although it took a few more years. He wanted to leave her for me and I said that wasn't enough. I knew he and she were good together. I refused an affair, said look me up if you ever do leave her, but I won't be your reason or your guarantee."
"We've transitioned it to an honorary brother / sister status but we also know that in another universe we might have married each other and had a really good time. But he's happy with his lovely wife and I'm happy single and very independent.
Third time's a charm?
"We met in 2010, she got away because I was too shy and insecure, then we met in 2020 and actually had a beautiful relationship for 4.5 years, but I was too mentally broken from my divorce in 2019 so we had to break up."
"She got away a second time. I still love and miss her a lot."
Life through Facebook updates
"I am sad that I was stupid enough to let her get away. She met up with a much older guy and I never spoke to her again."
"We do not speak to each other. I picked up on her Facebook page that she was having treatment for cancer. I hope that she gets well."
The right attitude
"He became a millionaire and is becoming known for AI/tech. I only found out because I was doing research with my husband and his name came up."
"I am happy with my husband and ever since I met my husband, I haven't felt like 'the one that got away' got away... Maybe, he just wasn't for me."
Ships passing in the night
"We grew up, married other people, remained friends and are no longer romantically interested in each other. We actually talked today."
"Our timing was just never right. Looking back, if we had dated then it absolutely would've ended up toxic. Now we've both healed a lot of trauma, we're great friends but there's no romance left."
Kids can be a dealbreaker
"I've thought over the years more than one person was my one that got away."
"I'm fairly certain who it is now and we aren't together because of compatibility. We spoke yesterday, he's nearby. We're both in relationships and I now have the daughter that was the reason we broke up. He didn't want children and I did. She came along a few years later with someone else."
Only a little bitter
"She moved to a different country, hustled her tail off and now owns a rapidly growing media company that has expanded to three countries."
"I am happily married with a new baby, we are both doing well but I sure dont get paid to travel the world doing a job I love."
Tough one to assess
"I moved to a new city. Came back to visit him and try to hook up and learned he was seeing someone else."
"He broke down when he saw me: crying. He said if I didn't move it would have been me. Still not sure if I dodged a bullet or if we were supposed to be together. I wonder if he's still with that other person."
All's well that ends well
"We had a long distance relationship, met through a friend. Visited me while I was studying abroad in London. Had a fantastic week and he got back to his real life and started dating someone who I assume is still his wife."
"I googled his name randomly about a year ago and found a GoFundMe with him asking for money for a surrogate. It was a few years old by then and they were successful."
Should've stayed strangers
"We ended up single again at the same time after over a decade and reconnected one night in the same city even though we lived in different states, had a really fun long distance fling for a while."
"It turned into a heartbreaking disaster with him going back and forth with someone much closer to home who he's now marrying and me not being moral enough to say no and now I've had to get over it all AGAIN and we can't even be friends this time."
At least there's Facebook creeping
"He got married and had three beautiful children. He was my college sweetheart and I truly messed it up. I creep his Facebook from afar maybe once or twice a year."
"I had gone on to get married and have three children myself so I don't live with regrets but he'll always be my one that got away."
Never made the leap
"We never dated. I was head over heels for her but was terrified she would say no if I asked. She met a man, married, still lives with him (she confessed to me they almost divorced, but stayed together for the sake of their daughters)."
"I myself got married, had kids, divorced.We are still friends and see each other from time to time."
Never forget a good smell
"Most of them didn't get away. I let them go. Even the one I have now should go. But there were a few memorable ones… there was the one that smelled like no other. Omg. His natural scent was fantastic. Never met anyone else that smelled even close."
"I could get high just sniffing his shoulder. He did get away but there's more to love than an awesome scent. I didn't get the chance to find out."
Happily ever after?
"We met up just before Christmas after over 30 years…..Got another date booked next month…."
"That's the third time we've met up now. Taking things very slowly and really enjoying the company. We are learning what each other has been up to over the last thirty years. He's hiding a lot so I'm just letting him talk and being non judgmental."
