Imagine my surprise as I was checking the TV listings tonight to find that "Annie Hall" would be on Channel 13. As it has been one of my favorite films for years I made sure not to miss it.
It's true that I enjoy Woody Allen's quips as well as the chemistry between him and Diane Keaton. But aside from that I honestly don't know why I like the film so much. I've never been in a serious relationship (i.e. boyfriend/girlfriend) nor was my family as dysfunctional as Alvy Singer's. (Close but not quite).
About a little over halfway through the film (when Alvy goes to Annie's apartment at 3am to kill a spider "the size of a Buick") I started to think about Ana.
Ana was someone I when I was a freshman in college. I remember the day we met it was for a meeting of a student club we were in. She seemed shy and mousy but there was something about her that attracted me and compelled me to introduce myself to her. After exchanging pleasantries we chatted for quite a while. I doubt it was more than a thirty minutes but it seemed like many hours. We just seemed to get along incredibly well and we got together several times after that. Usually we would be together around campus at the library or at her dorm. A few times we ate out in the West Village.
The odd thing was that I certainly felt a bond of friendship between the two of us but I constantly asked myself if what I felt was more than that and, perhaps more importantly, how did she feel towards me. After much introspection I concluded that there was probably nothing more than just a close friendship yet decided that if I would not impede if she were to pursue the relationship. It was probably an irrational conclusion though it was the one I felt most comfortable with.
A few weeks before moving to Miami I went out with her for lunch at a cafe on Greenwich Street. I was going to drop the bombshell that I would move and that would inevitably alter our relationship. So imagine my surprise when she says that not only has she had a boyfriend for a few years, but that he was her fiancee.
Then she showed me the pictures.
Then she told me about the wedding in a few months time.
Then she told me she might move to the Midwest.
In reality I should not have been shocked and I did my damnedest to give a positive impression to her. In the end, I was her close friend and she deserved support from me. But deep down inside I held on to the hope that perhaps, just maybe we could've moved beyond friendship. Would it have worked out? Who knows. But I would have liked to have given it a shot.
After moving to Miami we remained in touch every once in a while. On a visit to New York we met and she showed me the pictures from her wedding in India. They were very nice snapshots. She eventually moved to Ohio with her hubby. The last time we spoke she was doing very well as a paralegal and enjoyed being with her husband. Ultimately it all seemed to have worked out exceptionally though unfortunately we haven't spoken in over a year.
I guess while watching "Annie Hall" I subconsciously recalled the relationship Ana and I had. Yet like all special moments they are fleeting and great while it lasted.
I just hope that our relationship doesn't end like the last scene in the movie: exchanging some parting phrases then departing on our separate ways forever.
MP3: Pixies - Ana
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