It Deepened…
Although we were friendly, we never pushed the friendship
into anything other than that. But later, we found ourselves chatting
online in private chat rooms for just the two of us, both of us spending
several hours at a time chatting about life and us. E-mails were
beginning to end in "love" and "miss you" etc. Before the end of
1996, we had begun writing more heavily and were becoming more aware that
our feelings were beginning to be more than just a friendship.
We Fell In Love…
After Christmas of 1996, we talked more honestly than
we ever had, laying our "cards" on the table by opening up with our true
feelings. Both Liz and I had fallen in love, so much so that we decided
to make a date and actually meet each other. Liz made a flight reservation
for July 12th 1997 to fly to England and meet me at Heathrow Airport in
London. Until the early part of 1997, we had never actually spoken
on the phone and we began doing that occasionally before we met.
We Met For The First Time…
Liz landed in England, Heathrow Airport on 12th July
1997 and I met her at arrivals. Both of us obviously very nervous,
we hugged, kissed and spoke our first few words to each other, it was a
wonderful feeling. I had traveled to the airport in my car and we
made our way to a Hotel in Weymouth called "The Channel Hotel" which we
had previously booked before hand.
Our First Wonderful Week…
During the first day together, we began to feel very
comfortable in a very short time. We had already found out all there was
to know about each other and we certainly had no nasty surprises.
The first week we spent together was the most incredible week of both of
our lives. We took lots of photos and spent the whole week together
in each other's arms. It was obvious that we were perfect for each
other. Then came the fateful day that Liz had to leave to go back
home. We had spent most of Friday night in good spirits but had also
realized that Friday was pretty much our last day together, we were upset
beyond belief. Saturday's journey to the airport was spent in silence,
neither one of us wanting the magical time we had spent with each other
to end. Saying good-bye at the airport had both of us so hurt and
in floods of tears, it was horrible.
What Next?
Well we made the decision to meet again in October but
this time, it was me who would be doing the traveling. We knew after
we had met that we were deeply in love and we needed each other to be happy,
there was no question about any of that. We continued to write e-mails
to one another towards the end of August of 1997. Then at the end
of August, I had to close my Internet connection and sell my computer for
financial reasons. This left us with only one option, the telephone.
The Telephone Era…
We had one major problem here, I had no phone.
So I had to use a public phone which meant me standing out in all weather
to be able to chat with Liz. Also, it was costing Liz anywhere in
the region of $400 to over $600 per month to be able to talk to me but
we both needed it so badly. We did this for several hours in some
cases and usually always more than one hour. This was done every
single night of our lives and still is up to this day. We have only
missed maybe two or three days in almost 12 months.
October, 1997…
I went to spend two weeks with Liz and her two children
on October 4th 1997. Again, it was magical, we had missed each others
company so much and to be able to spend time with each other was very special
indeed. After getting back to Liz's house, she introduced me to Jessica
and Curtis, her two beautiful kids. This was an important moment for all
of us, to see how the kids would take to me and how I would take to the
kids. After a few hours of chatting though, it was obvious it wasn't
going to be a problem. Although we went on a trip to Baltimore Harbor,
we both thought that seeing America through Liz's usual day to day routine
would be more beneficial to me than sight seeing, like trips to the Grocery
store and Curtis’ baseball games etc. Liz and I had pretty much decided
that the only way we could be together was for me to uproot and live in
the States with Liz, so seeing how things differed from England was interesting
to me. We laughed at little differences between the two countries and it
is always a source of humour for both of us. I went with Liz quite
a few times to work, she introduced me to her work colleagues and her boss.
Liz felt relieved to finally show that I existed as she had done so much
talking about how we had met and fallen in love. Liz has three brothers,
two of who I got to meet in October and it was good that we all got on
like we did and I think we got their approval. But two weeks goes by so
fast and before long, it was time to go to the airport to say good-bye
again. When I bought my suitcase down stairs, both Jessica and Curtis
broke down in floods of tears, it was heart rendering for all of us.
Teary eyed, Liz and I left for the airport and again found ourselves in
silence on the way there. Saying good-bye just got harder and harder
and hurt all the more for both of us but after our last inevitable hug
and kiss, I had to go.
We Needed Each Other…
We had made the decision that we were to be together
but we didn't have any idea of how to go about it. Visa's were something
we had never really looked into and now we found ourselves needing lots
of information on the subject. We had become not only totally in
love with each other but we found that we couldn't be without each other.
It was hard to face the usual day ahead of us. It was affecting my
behavior to a degree and Liz was experiencing the same problems.
With Liz having two kids and a house to look after, it was easier for me
to make arrangements for trips to the USA to see her than it was for her
to fly to England to see me. By the second week of my return to the
UK, I had booked another flight to spend Christmas with Liz in the USA.
The flight had cost me £649 and I had to take the two weeks off work
with no pay.
Christmas 1997…
On December 20th 1997, I flew into Dulles Airport and
once again Liz met me at arrivals. Beaming smiles and open arms we
hugged each other in full view of everyone, no one else existed but us.
During my stay we got to decorate our first Christmas tree together, go
out and buy the kid's presents together and do the usual things a family
does at Christmas. The kids and I had become to love each other in
such a short space of time. Both of them being young enough to accept
me makes it easier on all of us. Our lives are so wonderful when
we're together, we become happier and we're able to be the people we want
to be, instead of the empty people we are without each other. Christmas
’97 was a memorable one, our first of many we shall enjoy together.
We made a promise that we would never be alone at Christmas, never to be
separated by the 3,800 miles our countries divide us by. And yes,
again we had to say good-bye. The pain and torture of that last and
final day always seemed unjustified considering the happiness the rest
of the stay had brought both of us but it was something we always knew
would come and would always have to accept. By this visit, Jessica
& Curtis had become attached to me beyond belief and it just didn't
seem fair that this upset had to happen every time I stayed with Liz and
the kids. A lonely quiet trip to the Airport later and after more
heartbreaking good-byes, we were separated again.
March/April 1998…
On my return home and after just 3 weeks, I had booked
my flight for our March/April visit. This was to be a 23 day stay
and again I had to take some of this vacation time without pay. Although
it had only really been a little over 3 months since we had been together,
it felt like it had been years. This time Liz met me at Dulles Airport
with her two kids. They were there nice and early amongst the crowds
of people waiting to pick up other friends and family who had just flown
in on the same flight as me. Unknown to them, I had been picked for
a baggage check by customs officials and I was pretty much the last person
to walk through the arrivals entrance. Liz was worried sick as were
the kids, both Jessica and Curtis were crying because I hadn't come through
the door yet. It was such a relief to finally see my new family as
I strolled through with my suitcase in tow! After plenty of hugs
and kisses from everyone, and exchanges of pictures the kids had painted
for me at school, we began our little journey back to Burke, back to Liz's
house. The house felt like home to me and it felt good to be complete
again, to be back with Liz. This visit was a special one in that
we were to make definite plans and talk about our future, we also became
Engaged on the 27th March, 1998. During this three week stay, on
our second week, we were to travel some 640 miles up to Maine to spend
a week with Liz's parents and to introduce myself to them.
The journey to Maine took 10 hours of straight driving and we were so glad
to be able to get out of the car once we finally arrived at her parents
house. I was obviously nervous about meeting them and I placed a
high level of importance on getting to know them and for them to get to
know me. It was important to us all. But after the first day
of talking and laughing together and becoming more comfortable, we soon
became to feel more and more at home with each other. Her parents
made it easy for me and it was obvious after the first day that we were
all going to get on really well. This was a time for pure relaxation
for Liz and I, her parents lived in 2 acres of wooded land, so peaceful
and so quiet. We had no outside worries, no pressure from anything,
it was a selfish week that we enjoyed immensely and the kids got to spend
time with us too, instead of Liz being at work. During our stay,
we set up her parents computer to handle e-mail and they exchanged e-mail
addresses with me to be able to keep in touch while I was back in England.
We left her parents house with a wonderful feeling of
acceptance, all of us had enjoyed the stay very much indeed and now it
was time to go back to Virginia. Well after we got home, we had to
talk about one or two things that we needed to address. One thing
was for certain, we needed each other and we needed to be together as soon
as possible. We both decided that during the early part of June,
we would start the VISA process and we sent off to the INS for all the
necessary forms that we needed. I had to supply Liz with one or two
other things which I was going to do as soon as I got back to England.
Both of us feeling good about the fact that we had made concrete plans
for our future, it was again that time to let each other go, and as painful
as it was, we had to do it. On our last trip to Dulles Airport we
took the kids. We tried to keep from feeling sad, but we just couldn't
hide the sadness we were all feeling. Three weeks had gone by in
a matter of days, or so it felt. But we vowed that this hurt that
we all felt when it was time for me to leave was going to stop. We
told the kids that before their next school holiday was over, I would be
there with them and I would be there permanently. That gave them a little
comfort but not much. A last glimpse of the love in each other's
eyes, a momentary kiss and a tender hug good-bye and it was taken from
us. I had to leave again.
Our Future…
There is no doubt in either of our minds that the love
we have is very special. We have spent almost 9 weeks together in
just 10 months and they have been the happiest and most fulfilling times
of our lives. We love each other so much so that we can't stand to be away
from each other. We are completely different people when we are together,
but separated from each other's love, we are nothing more than an existence.
We intend getting married in early October and we have talked about this
with both Liz's parents and mine. We intend spending the rest of
our lives together in sheer bliss and we will make each other happy for
the rest of our lives. But that's the start of our next story…
