So close, and yet so far . . .

Diane Moran and Ron Laidman were born 28 days apart in 1964 in Vancouver General Hospital.

They met at Kitsilano High School at 16, became friends, and then dated in their late teens.

At 18, they spent an idyllic weekend camping on Mayne Island.

Days later, Moran learned that she had been accepted into the Katimivik volunteer program. Two weeks later she left B.C. 鈥� and Ron.

That separation lasted for 24 years. And now, as Valentine鈥檚 Day approaches, they have a computer cupid to thank for bringing them together again.

Nine months after she returned from her Katimivik assignment, she returned to B.C. and enrolled at Vancouver Community College. Unknown to her, Laidman was also a student at VCC. His classes were on the lower level, hers on the upper. Their paths never crossed.

While they were going to VCC, they lived only 12 blocks from each other.

They eventually married others, but their marriages crumbled.

Then, in October, 2008, Moran was chatting with friends when Laidman鈥檚 name came up.

鈥淚 thought 鈥業 wonder what he鈥檚 up to鈥�. 鈥�

On Oct. 10 that year, she turned her computer on to her Facebook page and typed in his name.

After Laidman responded, they talked endlessly on the phone before meeting again in person.

And when they met, the 24 years since they last saw each melted away.

The pair has no regrets, no thoughts about what might have been.

Those years 鈥済ave us both the time to grow and become the people we are,鈥� Laidman said.

鈥淭his is the way it was intended to be,鈥� Moran added.

Moran is a children鈥檚 programmer at a Lower Mainland recreation centre. She and her husband never had children. Laidman had two, Noah, 13, and Mercedez, 11.

When Moran came to live with him in his rural Aldergrove home, 鈥渟he became an instant mom,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great because I never had children,鈥� Moran said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 so easy with Ron because he鈥檚 a great dad. I could never be with a man who was not a stellar dad.鈥�

Do they see their reunion as a second chance at love?

鈥淢aybe it鈥檚 not so much a second chance, more a reconnection that was bound to happen,鈥� Laidman said, adding, 鈥淚t鈥檚 been very exciting to re-connect.

鈥淚t was easy, and it鈥檚 as though we were never apart.鈥�

Moran added, 鈥淚 think the universe was trying to get us back together for a long time.鈥�

They have much in common, and even in their differences they have an easy way of making it work beautifully.

For instance, Moran is a passionate cook and, Laidman agrees, he鈥檚 equally passionate about cleaning up the mess she creates in the kitchen.

鈥淲e complete each other in every facet,鈥� Laidman said.

Including their sentences.

鈥淥ur similarities are . . .鈥� Moran starts.

鈥�. . . uncanny,鈥� her man replies.