A new understanding of prior events, courtesy of an offhand Julie Delpy comment

I was reading this interview with Julie Delpy (disclaimer: I absolutely adore Before Sunrise) about her new movie, and she said something I found quite profound, probably quite by accident:

What happened? For one, a chance meeting with a former beau. Instead of giving Delpy the what-ifs, the reunion helped her realize she'd made the guy into "a fantasy." "Some people live like that. They move on and get married but always in the back of their minds is the one that got away. It's in our making to always be longing for something else. I'm trying to change my attitude. I'm not longing for anything other than the ability to live in the moment."

I think this is a fitting epilogue to last year's Chicago story. Now I know what it meant.