They parted after medical school, but kept in touch, Eric always sending Marianne cards from around the world on her birthday, which is Valentine's Day.
Trauma and drama occurred.
In 2005, they reconnected. Marianne asked Eric if he wanted to start dating again., 24 years after they first met. This began their "honeymoon period," visiting each other regularly from San Diego and San Francisco.
After seeing each other for 2 years, Eric moved to San Diego, to live with Marianne and her two teenage children. This began their "breaking rocks" period. It seemed no matter how hard they tried to spend time together, children intervened. Adolescents being what they are, life was pretty crazy most of the time.
In 2011 Eric moved back to SF alone! After 2 years apart Marianne retired from her job as an OB-GYN for Kaiser and joined him in SF. They now live happily in the middle of San Francisco on the edge of a forest- with no kids!