knowing the hearts of others

I was just reflecting on the current state of a colleague's love life, which led me to thoughts of how well we truly do or do not know others.

My colleague moved to Germany several months ago and left a "serious" girlfriend behind. When asked about her, he commented that she's an older woman and pretty, and also someone he's considering settling down with. He didn't claim to be madly in love, and when asked about this, still didn't claim it. Instead, he said he's about ready to settle down and. . . well. . . she's there.

Apparently she called and e-mailed a lot. When he went home in November, it was to break up with her. "She's getting too serious," he claimed. Upon his return, he confirmed that they did break up. . . but they also had a good visit. "You know, starlit walks on the beach and the like."

Friday he admitted that he's getting married the end of April. She's already got the whole thing planned -- the place, the caterer, etc.

I marvel at the whimsical nature of human beings. While there are those I like to think I know really well and could predict many of their moves, the truth is that by nature of being human, we are, inevitably, somewhat unpredictable.

We can never truly know someone else completely, nor can anyone else know us that well. Most of us still surprise ourselves from time to time (thinking we know ourselves so well).