When I begin to recollect the many events which have transpired between Alyona and I from the beginning and until now, I am, and forever will be, in awe. If I had read of such events in a novel, if I had had seen such events in a movie, then I would have thought the plot and events to be beyond reason and belief. But sometimes, life affords us experiences that could never be replicated in film or written word; and such has been my experience in my search for my second half.
It was around Christmas, 2003, when I decided to place my ad on Anastasiaweb. I had used the service before. My experiences had been a mixture of bad and good, but I had not found that special person yet. Perhaps my God-given trait of persistence emboldened me to continue my search - a search that had been going on for nearly 2 years. And sometimes it is when we are close to that point where we think about giving up when the miraculous things happen. So, I locked away the ghosts of the past, and looked forward. I placed my ad, and during the 2 to 3 day period that my profile and photos were being approved (before it was posted), I began looking through the catalogue. I searched within a rather strict criteria, and after looking through hundreds and hundreds of profiles, I had chosen 3 ladies that interested me. One of those ladies was Alyona. I had her name and ID number written down on a piece of paper, "Alena 53324, from Odessa, Ukraine." I waited for my profile to be posted an approved before writing to her. On December 24, I woke up, and I went to my computer to check my e-mail. I received a notice that I had mail in my Anastasiaweb mailbox. At that moment, I remember thinking that my profile must have been posted since someone had written to me. When I checked my box, I almost could not believe it when I saw a letter from Alyona written to me. But there it was, Alena 53324 from Odessa, and I recognized the photo immediately. She had written to me before I had even had a chance to write to her. It seemed like a wonderful sign to me, but of course, often introduction letters are impersonal, sent at random...so I was skeptical, but then I began reading her words. It was incredible. She made specific references to my profile, and I knew she had paid attention; she wrote intelligently and thoughtfully. I would have to say it was the most capturing introduction letter I had ever received, and over the years, I had received many hundreds. But of course, what made it so special is that immediately I was able to know that the interest I had in her was returned from her to me. And she closed that letter saying that she hoped I would reply...I laughed to myself thinking, "If you only knew..." I replied immediately, telling her that if she had waited even one more day, then it would have been her that received the first letter from me! She also found this to be a promising sign. And we wrote several letters, and each one was engaging and thoughtful. Through previous experiences, I knew that it was extremely important to make contact with her by phone. Within weeks, we were speaking on the phone and enjoying conversation. We spoke every day, shared many photos, and really got to know each other very quickly. I was very sure about her...as sure as one can be 5,500 miles away without meeting. I knew I had to meet her, and I wasted no time. In February, I planned my trip to Ukraine - we would meet in March. It had been only 2 ? months from the time I first got her letter until the time I would see her for the first time!
I remember being very nervous when I landed in Odessa. Of course, I had been drawn to Alyona in some way that I could not quite articulate, but you never really know if that "chemistry" or "spark" will be there when you meet in person. Of course, her beauty did catch my attention at first on the website, but it was her thoughtfulness and attention that really drove me to her. As you know, there are thousands of beautiful women on your site, and trying to choose who you will see based upon their appearance is a futile act. And the woman you love, regardless of how she appears to others, will always be the most beautiful woman in the world to you. So, despite her beauty, I always sensed something special about her, and it was that sensation that led me to Odessa. I felt that there was potential for a true love if that chemistry or spark could be found. True love is so rare, and sometimes I doubt whether many people have ever even experienced it. If a person goes through this life and loves once, then they are lucky. So, I could not know what would happen, but I was sure of what I was doing - I had to find out. I remember being worried...Maybe she would get scared and not meet me at the airport, maybe this or maybe that, and all of the thoughts that go through a person's mind in such a moment. But I got off of the plane, and as I stood in line at customs, my mobile-phone beeped. I had received an SMS text-message, and it was from her. I will never forget it! It read, "Hello my dear! Welcome to Odessa!" I knew she was there or had known my plane had just arrived. After I walked out of customs and into the small greeting area, I first noticed a man holding a sign with my name on it. It was my driver who was to take me to my apartment. In my broken and infantile Russian, I explained to him (as best I could) that I was supposed to be meeting someone there. I did not see her immediately. So, I fumbled around with my cell-phone, trying to dial her number, but the call would not go through. After a moment, I looked up again, and there she was, about ten feet away. I knew her immediately. And I also recognized her friend, Irina, who also had a profile on Anastasiawebweb. They were both there, just as she had said. I gathered my nerves, and with all my boldness walked right up to her and gave her a hug and a little kiss. I think she was a little nervous, and I was too, but I had the benefit of being so tired that I almost forgot to be nervous! But we got into the taxi, and really, it only took a few minutes and we were really comfortable together, not too nervous or shy. I was tired beyond belief from such a long trip, but I tried to hide it as best as I could. We sat in the back of the taxi, and I put my arm around her, hugged on her a little...tried to let her know, in that first moment, that I liked her, that she could relax, that I was happy to be there. I made little jokes, no doubt stupid jokes as I was very tired. You know, Alyona's photos were very beautiful, and I had seen probably 2 dozen of them before we ever met in person, but she was so beautiful in person, even more beautiful than I could have ever imagined. But I already knew she was beautiful, I already knew that she was smart...I knew these things before. Now, it was time to find out how we worked together. We arrived at my apartment. Me, Alyona, and Irina talked for a few minutes. I surprised Irina by pulling out a copy of the catalogue (which I had received just the day before I left) that had her photo on the cover! After about 30 minutes, both Irina and Alyona had to leave to go to work for a few hours. I gave Alyona a kiss as they were leaving, the door closed, and it was silent. There I was, alone in a strange city, physically exhausted. Alyona had told me that she would send me an SMS message to my phone later, and told me to go to sleep for a while. I laid there in the solitude unsure. I wondered a million things, but most of all, I wondered if she liked me, what her first impressions were of me, and if she would even call me at all, or if I would wake up not to the sound of my phone but to the sound of silence. Somewhere in all of the thoughts, my travel-burdened mind drifted off to sleep.
The message alert on my cell phone echoed in the apartment. It was dark out, and I reached over to check my phone. I read the message, "I am leaving work and will be at you in about 30 minutes." I've never gotten out of bed and into the shower so quickly in my life. Maybe women don't realize it, but guys try to look good too, and likewise, it takes a little time! I had 30 minutes, after just waking up from maybe 3 hours of sleep, to get myself ready to see her. I was frantic. Well, I got ready with a few minutes to spare, and I spent those minutes staring into the mirror trying to convince myself that I could be as beautiful as she was. All I could think about was how important these first impressions would be, and I did not want her list of first impressions of me to include a freshly awakened, disheveled mess of a man! She arrived, and immediately she had a plan. We had to go get some food for me to have at the apartment, we had to get something to eat...To be honest, the last thing a person wants to hear after just waking up is an agenda, but in this case, I liked it. In a way, I felt that she was trying to care for me, to look after me and get me what I needed. We walked out onto Yekaterininskaya Street. I was dark and cold outside. She asked me where I wanted to eat, and I told her that I would like to eat at a Ukrainian restaurant. We walked into a place and were seated. She asked me to sit beside her rather than across from her; I remember this very well. There was a rather loud, and probably intoxicated, group near to us, and she said she wanted me between them and her. I remember trying to decipher this...wondering if that was the reason she wanted me to sit there, or if she was trying to show me she wanted me near her. Either way, I was happy, because I had the best seat in the entire place - the seat next to her. Looking back to those first moments together, I think those moments were the most important even though the rest of our time together would be most memorable. She taught me a little more Russian, and we talked about various things. And I was looking for clues the entire time about what her impression was. But what was so strange, given the circumstance, is that it was completely obvious that both us felt very comfortable together. It was very weird. We were like old friends. It was not like sitting with a stranger and getting to know them. It was more like sitting with a friend you had not seen in years...Like we knew each other but had not seen each other for some time. I noticed this immediately in those moments, and I could see that she also was sensing this a little if not as much as I was. I still have a napkin from that restaurant, and on it is written (in Russian) gorachaya vada, which means "hot water." It was my Russian lesson for that evening, among a few other words. We left there and went to the grocery store. "You need this, this, this...." she pulled items from the shelves and placed them into my hands without wasting a moment. We went back to the apartment and put away the groceries, and she went into my bedroom and opened my suitcases. She pulled out items at random, "Put this in the bathroom..." and "put this in the kitchen..." It was interesting to me, and she probably had no idea how closely I was observing these things; but she was a mixture of bossy, of caring, and of organized. She wanted things to be in their place, but she was doing this to get me settled. And I remember thinking, "This is what I need." In a way, she was ordering me around for a few moments, but what she was also doing was taking care of me. I liked it. I liked her spirit, I liked the way she came into my apartment and made it into a home. When everything was done, we sat in the living room on the sofa. And as the local music-tv station was playing the Britney Spears "Toxic" video every 20 minutes, we just sat and talked about various things. I gave her a couple of gifts that I had brought to her. And it seemed that each second we became closer and closer...We held each other a little more tightly, we laughed a little more openly, the kisses lasted a little longer. It became obvious that we had that rare connection, that chemistry that is either there or is not there. It was as if we were magnets, drawn perfectly and exactly to each other. I could not really believe it at the time. Out of all of the women I could have seen, and all of the men who were interested in her, somehow we had both found that perfect person. One could call it a major stroke of luck, a touch of destiny...I don't know how it happened, but we both had found something special to us and something rare. We did not want to be apart, we could not hold each closely enough.
The days that followed built upon those first events. It took us a couple of days to adjust and realize what was happening with us. After several days, we even left Odessa and went to Kiev for a couple days. The entire time we were together was totally incredible. We had a few silly arguments, but regardless could never pull ourselves away from each other; we found love, simply. And that love that we found together is the love that remains now. We spoke many times of marriage while I was there. I think we were both sure in that time. And I asked her to marry me, but she wanted to take some time in considering this. To recount every wonderful, funny, interesting, or romantic event during our time together would take many pages. It would be really nice and perfect if I could tell a story and give an exact event and say, "this is when I knew I wanted her to be my wife." But there was no one single moment, there was no one event that caused me to realize this. What caused me to realize this was simply the love that we shared, the rarity of our connection...and we had these things all along, the whole time. And I think that I will not do our incredible experience the injustice of trying to explain it with words; to try to do so would be futile, just as is the futility of attempting to define or explain love.
I think that we were not prepared for the shock of me actually having to leave there. Giving her one last kiss at the airport, watching her stand there and watch me as I checked in to my flight...It was a sad moment. I could see her standing there, but I could not run back to her, even as much as I wanted to. I returned home and several weeks passed. It was very difficult to be apart, especially at first. After about one month, she finally said "yes" to my proposal which I had made in Odessa! For sure, this was a very exciting moment. Springtime, the time of all things new...My beloved became my fiancee!
Near the end of June, she and I will be together again, but this time, I will not be leaving. I am planning to move to Odessa for quite some time. We will be married there in Odessa on September 2. I have experienced many happy days since I have known my fiancee, but I am sure that this day will be the happiest!
I feel so lucky to have met her, and this would have never happened unless Anastasiaweb had not made it possible for a man from Georgia and a woman from Ukraine make contact. Of course, she and I have come very far since our initial days of correspondence, but I will not forget the first few steps that led me to her, and those first steps were made possible by the services that you provide. Your service is no doubt the best. You are trustworthy, and this gives the man peace of mind, and you offer a variety of services, and you do not try to "trap" your clients into only communicating through Anastasiaweb. Being able to exchange phone numbers during our first telephone conversation literally made the difference for us. For this, I truly thank you. Being able to talk to her directly, we were able to communicate for many hours, and by the time I went to see her, I knew her rather well. And for me, if I had not known her so well beforehand, I do not know if I would have ever gone to see her, and I surely would not have gone to see her so quickly. I want to thank you again, as I have done many times in the past, for offering an excellent and reliable way of introducing people.
I am looking forward to my future with my fiancee, soon to be my wife. It seems backwards, but our immediate plan is for me to move to Odessa! I really liked it there. As for moving back to the US, we are not yet sure when this will happen. What is most likely is that we will spend time in both places. But I think it goes to show just how much I really love her...to leave the US and everything I have just to be with her. The truth is, we just want to be together, whether in the US, Ukraine, South Africa, or Indo-China, and I never want to be away from her ever again. Being apart is like living without half of me. If we decide later to move to the US, then while her visa is processing, I will be able to still be right there with her. I told her that I when I came back to her that I would never leave her again; and that is exactly what I intend to do!
I never imagined finding such love. And to have that love returned to me by her, and to have all of this with a woman like her...it's just unbelievable to me! I often just laugh to myself when she will say, "You know Michael, I am very stubborn and proud person sometimes, and I can be very difficult, so you should know this..." She doesn't know, but I just smile, because I know all of these things about her, and she doesn't even know that those are some of the reasons I like her so much! Not only do I love her, but I respect her, I admire her, I enjoy her....She is good for me, and I hope I am good for her. But all of those things that she thinks are so terrible about herself are some of the things I like the most! Sometimes, I just want to finally admit to her and say, "I like those things! I like you exactly! You are exactly what I want!" And maybe she will read this and see it anyway whether I tell her or not! But I've found my destiny. Everyone, at some point in their life will ask how they will ever be sure when they have found that right person...Well, you just know. I don't know how I know, but I know, and I have no doubts.
Thanks again for your services and your help! And we will be sure to remember to send you some of our wedding photos in a few months!
Best Regards,
Michael Addison
Presented by the client himself
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