The following year, Karen was at Jimmy’s 21st birthday celebrations, and Alex came over to talk to her. He said "Did you hear of a plane crash a few months ago?" She vaguely remembered a small plane crash on the news. "Bob’s fiancée was killed in the accident. He might be coming up to Armidale soon, on his way up to Queensland." Karen hadn’t known that he had a fiancée. Then Alex went on to ask about how Karen was finding living in residence at Uni.
That September, Karen was in her college room, in between a tutorial and dinner. There was a knock on the door. Karen rarely locked her door, and called out "Come in".
Bob put his head around the door. Karen immediately recognized him. "You remember me?" "Of course!" When asked what made Bob decide to visit Karen, he replied "Alex’s wife, Rosie told me that you had broken up with your boyfriend, and were living back in college. I thought I’d see if you remembered me." They talked for a long time, about what they were both doing, but didn’t mention the accident. They talked past dinner, not noticing.
Realizing the time, Bob asked if Karen would go out to town for dinner. Karen agreed, not quite sure what she was letting herself in for. Bob looked so sad, as if he would never smile or laugh again. Karen decided she would make him smile just once that evening.
Bob and Karen went to the only decent restaurant in Armidale, there not being much choice. They talked until there were no more customers left in the restaurant. On the way out, Karen said something about the restaurant. It was so silly, Bob forgot his sadness and laughed out loud. "See," Karen said, "there are still things in life worth laughing about!" Bob got sad again, but gave Karen a big hug. "Thank you for making me laugh."
Bob had visited his friend Phil before coming to see Karen, and left his luggage there. After dropping Karen off at College and staying for a while he went back to Phil’s. Over the next week, he spent more time with Karen than with Phil. Karen felt that Bob was getting too serious too fast, and didn’t want to be simply a replacement for the lost fiancée. Karen didn’t know whether she could handle the emotional depth that would be part of any relationship with Bob.
After a week, Bob continued his journey to Queensland. He wanted time to sort himself out, and work out where he was going from there.
He sent Karen a number of postcards; usually extremely brief, but getting increasingly emotional and promising devotion. Karen felt scared and out of her depth.
After two weeks, Bob came back, and presented Karen with a wall hanging he had made while away. Karen was touched that he had made so much effort. They talked and talked. After another week, Karen knew that she would marry Bob, although she wasn’t certain that she loved him. They talked about having kids long before their views on marriage.