Text/Editing: Burst
Love at first sight when she was young made a French girl wait for a lifetime.
Even though the other party is married and has children, she still guards that heart, from the age of 28 to 83, she has not been married for 55 years.
It wasn't until 2010 that a letter made her choose to cross the ocean from France to China, just to find the boy she once was.
At the age of 83 that year, she married her first love as she wished, and after 55 years of waiting, she finally achieved a positive result at this moment.
So what happened to this "unattainable" love?
The statements in this article are based on reliable sources of information and are detailed at the end of the article
Encounter: Love at first sight
Bright and clear, this is the first impression of the French girl Dani on her "first love" Yuan Dibao.
At that time, the relationship between the two was that of teacher and student, Dani was a French teacher in college, and Yuan Dibao was a student who had just entered the school.
In August 1953, in the first class on campus, Yuan Dibao and Dani suddenly collided when they raised their eyes.
At that time, Yuan Dibao was 25 years old, and Dani was only 26 years old, and the similar age made the two attractive to each other.
The liking of that era was always very subtle, and neither of them expressed their inner thoughts, and they were afraid that the piercing of the window paper would tear up the friendship between them.
But the two people who love each other will always get closer quietly unconsciously, Yuan Dibao's grades were very good at that time, and when everyone complained that Russian was difficult, he could get full marks again and again.
It was also thanks to this achievement that I served as the class representative of the Russian language course, and the communication with Ms. Dani gradually became more and more on weekdays.
Later, Yuan Dibao also learned that Dani was not only proficient in Russian and Chinese, but also very proficient in English and French.
It just so happened that he was very interested in English at that time, but there was no language course in the school.
Dani did not hesitate to ask Yuan Dibao to come to her home on weekends to tutor in English.
Yuan Dibao hesitated, as if he was thinking about something, perhaps because he saw his concern, Dani naturally said that her parents were at home, so she didn't have to worry too much.
After hearing Dani's affirmative answer, Yuan Dibao breathed a sigh of relief.
It was also from this time that almost every weekend, Yuan Dibao would report on time, and while learning English, Yuan Dibao even communicated a lot with Dani's parents.
Maybe it's because they are fellow villagers with Dani's father, so they like Yuan Dibao very much, and as parents who have come over, they can also see the affection in their eyes.
So every time Yuan Dibao left, his father would always show his liking for that student in front of Dani, and encourage her to be bold and not to miss such a good young man.
Probably because of her father's support, or maybe Dani had an idea of her own, so she started to be bold.
Several times Dani asked Yuan Dibao to go out to play, and the two chatted along the way, humming each other's favorite songs, and when looking at the pairs of lovers, Dani even imagined what the future would look like.
During that time, the two began to send letters, scarves, pens and other small gifts to each other, and at the same time that the relationship became deeper and deeper, Yuan Dibao seemed to retreat.
It seems that he has a secret in his heart that cannot be opened, and his love for Dani is also "out of love and love".
Dani took a step forward, he began to take a step back, Dani didn't know what was wrong between them, she tried to listen to Yuan Dibao's story, but every time she pushed away.
It wasn't until the third year of college that Yuan Dibao's school was going to merge with another university, which meant that he and Dani were going to separate.
A love that has no clear answer seems to be about to be completely cut off at this moment, and both of them seem to be unwilling.
It was also the day before the separation that Yuan Dibao told Dani the secret he had hidden in his heart for many years.
But it was also this secret that made the two have to choose to let go, and their parting is 55 years...
Half a life of loneliness: 55 years of missing
"I'll tell you frankly, I actually have a wife"
Yuan Dibao's words made Dani unbelievable, she had thought of many possibilities, but she never thought that this would be the result.
Sometimes she thought about leaving with Yuan Dibao without doing anything, but her heart kept reminding her that her happiness could not be built on the pain of another person.
Yuan Dibao and his current wife actually have no basic relationship, but when they reach the age of starting a family, their parents refer to each other.
Yuan Dibao, who did not have a happy girl at that time, had to choose a compromise, after all, filial piety came first, and his parents had been worried about his marriage for several years.
It's just that sometimes fate loves to play tricks, and on the tenth day after they got married, he met Dani.
(Yuan Dibao and his wife)
But if it's a step too late, it's really missed, and the two are like destined to be in a state of inseparability, so over the years, Yuan Dibao only dared to look at it from afar, and never dared to ask for extravagance.
But Dani's proximity made his heart beat more than once, but this confession also completely tore apart the love between the two.
Before they separated, neither of them mentioned the love hidden in their hearts, but only defined this love as friendship, and agreed to write letters in the future.
In 1956, Dani left China and followed her parents to France, and after this separation, the two did not see each other for 55 years, separated by 8,000 kilometers.
And the two seemed to try to let go of that memory, but every time they looked up at the sky, the image of them sitting on the hillside and talking back and forth in their minds looped back and forth.
"Dear Dani, my dearest Dani, why are our bodies and minds so similar and so identical, if I had a soul, it must have dwelt in you, and now the soul that dwells in me is really yours, we are originally one body and mind, why did God divide it into two, you two hearts, quickly return to the original heart."
In ten years, the two were almost in contact by letter, and Yuan Dibao was assigned to West China Medical University after graduation, and then gave birth to three children one after another.
Dani, on the other hand, has never been married and works as a Chinese teacher at a French university.
She is concerned about China, and she wants to return to China more than once, which is not only where she grew up, but also where her lovesick people live.
Their correspondence lasted until 1966, when it was interrupted, and every time they sent it was returned.
Later, Dani also learned about the situation, and in order not to affect Yuan Dibao, she suppressed her thoughts and stopped writing letters.
Their days seem to be uneventful, but there is always a regret in their hearts that they will never forget.
Dani never married, she couldn't forget the person who lived in her heart, and she didn't want to marry for the sake of getting married, so after retiring, she chose to spend the rest of her life in a convent.
On the other side, Yuan Dibao, when he was 65 years old, his wife died of illness, but he was full of children and grandchildren, and he showed a different life from Dani.
But the only thing that is the same is that there is one thing that is always hidden in their hearts.
It wasn't until 2010 that Yuan Dibao's daughter-in-law discovered the unspeakable secret in his heart, and the 55-year wait finally came to fruition.
Marry love
With the encouragement of his daughter-in-law, Yuan Dibao tried to write a letter and sent it to Dani.
To their surprise, Dani has not moved once in 55 years, and it seems that she has been waiting for Yuan Dibao's letter for so many years.
After many years, Dani looked at the familiar handwriting once, and even though she was old, she still couldn't suppress the excitement in her heart.
She immediately replied to Yuan Dibao, informing him that she had been living well all these years and missed him very much.
The back and forth exchange of letters also made the two hearts that had been separated for a long time quietly tied together again.
This time, Dani didn't want to run away anymore, she told Yuan Dibao that she decided to go to him and live in China.
When he received this letter, Yuan Dibao shed tears of excitement and began to prepare to welcome Dani a long time ago.
On the day the plane landed, Yuan Dibao held flowers in his hand and kept looking at the airport, and the moment Dani appeared, they recognized each other at a glance.
After receiving the flowers, the two hugged each other, and after 55 years of waiting, they finally waited for the "reunion after a long absence", and no one thought that they would be able to see each other again in this life.
On September 26, 2010, 83-year-old Dani put on a wedding dress for the first time, even if her head was white, her face was still full of the look of a girl.
This time she married her first love who had been in love for 55 years, and when Yuan Dibao walked towards her in a suit and holding flowers in her hand, the distance of just a few steps seemed to have been walking for decades.
Yuan Dibao took Dani's hand, red eyes and said that this time he would not let go, and he would use the rest of his life to make up for their regrets over the years.
After getting married, the two of them realized the future they envisioned little by little, stepping through the old places of the former heart-warming moments, and going to those places they had never been to.
This belated love seems to make people wait too long, but if they all know that there will be a good outcome in the future, they may all feel that it is all worth it.
After being with Dani for seven years, Yuan Dibao passed away due to illness, but he has no regrets in this life.
After Yuan Dibao left, Dani suffered from Alzheimer's disease, and she forgot many things, but she did not forget the love between them.
Perhaps this illness is the best comfort for Dani, who is reluctant to face the death of her lover, and chooses to use this way to forget the fact that he has left.
During this period, Yuan Dibao's children and grandchildren also followed his last wish and took good care of Dani, until she suddenly woke up and a tear fell from the corner of her eye, and she knew that they were going to be together again.
So far, this love that has crossed countries and waited for decades has also come to a successful end here.
Resources:
CCTV: Dani's Choice, CCTV-10, 2011, No. 69
https://tv.cctv.com/2011/03/10/VIDE1355510829744648.shtml?spm=C95797228340.P3XSH3djsU2B.0.0
CCTV-1 "Seeing" 20131218 Dani and Dibao
https://tv.cctv.com/2013/12/18/VIDE1387316521529704.shtml
The Paper: The French grandmother has been waiting for her first love in China for 55 years, and finally married him at the age of 83! This half-life relationship has made countless people teary-eyed...
https://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_18200792
Baidu Encyclopedia: Yuan Dibao
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%A2%81%E8%BF%AA%E5%AE%9D/9031893?fr=ge_ala