Matthew:
While I browsing around CatholicMatch.com one night, I stumbled across
Melissa's profile and decided that I should e-mail her. So I did, and
to my surprise I received a reply from her the next day. We exchanged
our personal e-mail addresses and communicated through several of them
for a time. Then we would chat using MSN messenger til hours of the day
and night (night for me, day for her). This continued on for over a
year, and we became really close friends.
We were both seeing other
people and discussed our relationships (or lack thereof) with each
other, which only made us grow closer. Then finally, after a year of
talking on the computer, we shared our first telephone conversation,
which was both awkward and yet exciting at the same time. It was so
nice to hear her voice after so many months of just reading what she
had to say. As we talked more and more, I realized that my feelings for
her went far beyond friendship, and from that point we decided to have a
relationship.
We would talk on the phone, running up huge cellphone
bills for both of us. Then we finally embraced technology and we each
bought webcams so we could see each other and talk, which was
absolutely amazing. She helped me through tough times and even helped
me buy a house. Prior to being in a relationship with her, we would both
joke that I was going to ship myself out to be with her. The longer we
talked, the more I realized that I loved her, and so one night I sent her
a video mail telling her "I love you." Finally, after eight months of a very
long distance relationship, I flew out to be with her and to ask her to
be my wife.
I left Albuquerque at 9:50 on the morning of
January 7th, and was so very nervous I could hardly sit still while I
was waiting for my plane to take me to Los Angeles. Then when I got
there, my flight was delayed for over an hour before leaving for Hong
Kong, which got me even more nervous and excited. Then came the long
flight from LA to Hong Kong, which seemed like it would never end.
My
plane touched down in Hong Kong and I had to rush to my connecting
flight. I slept through the first half of the three hour flight to
Singapore and was wide awake for the second half, as I was counting down
the minutes and miles before I finally touched down in Singapore to see
the love of my life. The wheels touched down on the tarmac of Changi
Airport and I was having difficulties containing my excitement, I felt
myself grinning from ear to ear. I gathered my luggage and exited the
plane, saying to myself that I finally made it. I found my way to the
Immigrations and Customs desk to get my passport stamped and I felt the
excitement building once again--well it never subsided it just grew
bigger.
I made my way out towards the baggage claim area and there she
was, just a hundred feet away, I saw her hop with excitement when she
saw me. I walked down the stairs and my bag fell of my suitcase and I
had to carry it down the steps. I was about to go exchange my currency
when she signaled to me that there was one outside. So I walked
through the door and walked up to her, threw my arms around her and
held her tight, I pulled back, looked into her eyes and we shared our
first kiss.
We took a cab to her place and when we got there, I removed
the ring from my pocket without her seeing me do it. I dropped to my
knee and asked her to marry me. She covered her mouth with her hands to
contain her squeal of excitement and said yes. She held out her hand
and I slid the ring on her finger, we kissed again.
Melissa:
I
was really nervous about Matt coming out here. I wanted to see him so
badly, and yet I was scared that he might not think the same way of me
when he sees me in person. I went to the airport an hour earlier to
wait for him, only to find out that his plane was delayed. So I sat
there for two hours, chewing on gum and feeling pukish because of all
the excitement. The anxiety went away when I saw a cutie in a red
sweater pulling his luggage behind him. I guess he was nervous too, because he almost tripped down the stairs with his luggage and that really made
me laugh. When he walked out the glass doors, it felt as if time stood
still and that I was in a dream. It didn't feel real until he leaned in
and kissed me. Everything felt right after that.
It's amazing what we
have gone through these eight months. After talking about this day for so
long, it just felt so right to be holding his hands. When we got to my
place, he surprised me by proposing right away. It was just magical and
special because it was just us in a room, and only us and God as our
witness. I know that he's the man of my dreams and we are going to have
the most wonderful life together.
Advice to other LDR Couples:
No distance is too great with God and love.
Constant communication is the key to a successful relationship.
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