Miresevini ne dasmen tone

It was a series of perfect events that led to Emma and Eri’s unlikely meeting. Perhaps you would not be reading this short novel if a single occurrence happened any differently. What if Emma had continued with her original plan to travel to Sarandë instead of Dhërmi? What if Eri had not chosen to relocate for a summer job? First, let’s rewind a bit. In May 2023, after 7 years of school, Emma graduated with a Master of Architecture and was awarded a traveling fellowship. To use this award before beginning her full-time job in August, she booked a last-minute solo flight to Tiranë, Albania, somewhere she had never been nor heard of anyone going. Having less than a week to plan, Emma researched destinations and decided on Tiranë and Sarandë before leaving Albania for Kosovo. Two days before her flight, unsure of her plan, she decided to cancel all hotel reservations and start again – this time choosing 4 nights in Dhërmi and 2 in Tiranë. Not finding availability at the hotel she had planned to reserve in Dhërmi, Emma pivoted to a new option further from where she hoped to stay, 1 day before her flight out of NYC. In May 2023 Eri and his brother decided to temporarily move from their home, Tiranë, 130 miles south to Dhërmi for summer jobs at a newly opened hotel on the beach. Eri, a bartender in the capital city of Albania, was to be one of the lead bartenders at the hotel’s, now, well-known beach bar. Even though he had summer job offers from bars in other cities, he chose this position due to the proximity to his family. Eri would later find out that Emma was a guest at the same Dhërmi hotel. Though the two were in the same place at the same time, they would not know of the other’s existence until one of Emma’s NYC friends told her about a nearby Young T & Bugsey beach concert. Because it was her last night before she would leave for Tiranë, Emma decided to attend alone. Also happening the same night, on a beach in the opposite direction, was a music festival that Eri had already bought tickets for. Against all odds, Eri changed his mind and chose to attend the Young T & Bugsey concert, knowing the festival would be a multiple day event. It was finally there on the beach that the two met. Eri approached Emma, speaking Shqip to her because he thought she was Albanian. Even with their language barrier and cultural differences, he noticed her independence and confidence while she noticed his respectful and humble attitude - they each stood out from the others. That concert is what would become the start of their long-distance love story. What they expected to be a friendship turned into daily texting, calls, and eventually Eri traveling to meet Emma on some of her solo international trips. Because Albanians cannot visit the USA without a visa, the two were very limited on how they could see one another. Knowing that things were getting more serious, Eri made the decision to begin the visa process to relocate from Albania to NYC to be close to Emma permanently. On their last international trip together, Eri proposed to Emma in the city where they met, high on the hill overlooking the beach where they first spoke (in English and Shqip) 15 months earlier. Shortly after, Eri fully relocated to NYC in November 2024 to start a life with Emma without time zone differences, long flights, or 4-hr long phone calls at 5am. Many have wrongly assumed the two met online, because “who goes to Albania on a solo trip and meets their future husband on a beach?” The couple often reminisces over the perfect conditions that led to their meeting. If one detail had changed, their lives would have never collided. If Emma never traveled solo. If Eri had not decided to skip the music festival. If Emma stayed at her original hotel. If Eri chose a different summer job. If Emma’s friend didn’t suggest the concert. If Eri did not have a friend working the concert. Neither one was looking for someone, especially not someone across the world.