 Dear David and the folks at Anastasia,
I am attaching a photo from our recent wedding. Thank you very much for playing such an important role in making this wonderful day come true for us. I came to know Inna about three years ago from her photo and profile that caught my eye in one of your quarterly magazines. From her first letter back to me I knew I had found someone very special. We corresponded for a year by post, email, and eventually weekly phone calls, when we decided it was time to meet in person. I flew to St. Petersburg, and together we spent two glorious weeks in her city. I also came to know her parents and friends, and all were tremendously kind and generous to me. It was very hard and difficult for me to leave at the end of my stay.
Both of us seemed to know where our mutual feelings for one another were leading us, but in January we decided to get away by ourselves and truly spend time alone with each other. We chose to meet in Rome, and for 10 days the magic of Rome cast its romantic spell on us. We decided there that we wanted to get married, and when I returned home to Phoenix I began the legal process for her to obtain a K-1 Visa. After nine months of shuffling paperwork through the Immigration system, I met her in Moscow where she was scheduled for her interview at the U.S. Embassy. She passed with no problem, and her visa was sent out a few days later. Finally in September she prepared to leave, and I joined her in St. Petersburg to help pack and fly her back over with me. On the 20th we arrived at Chicago O’Hare, and were quite surprised to get processed so quickly through immigration and Customs. A few hours later we flew on to Phoenix, and in no time soon she turned my house into a real home. With only 90 days to get married, we were having a hard time to arrange the kind of wedding we both wanted. Finally we settled on the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and their wedding planner staff to make all the arrangements. With its Venetian theme, I thought it would be appropriate to bring a touch of Italy to our marriage vows. Both the wedding, and the lights and excitement of the city during our honeymoon were fantastic. 
A few years ago as I approached 50 I really began to wonder if I would ever find love again. My first marriage ended 15 years earlier, and there had been no one in my life since. Trying the local internet dating sites did more to turn me off then it did offering hope to find the right woman. Then by accident or fate I came to read about Russian women and the growing number of marriages to foreign men. The more I read about these women, the more interested and drawn I became to them. Everything I learned was exactly what I was looking for in a life partner, and not what I was finding here. I was curious and intrigued to take the next step, but coming across a multitude of dating websites offering introductions to Russia women became overwhelming.
Inna is everything I ever hoped to find, and each day is like a new adventure in our lives. Thank you again for bringing us together, and for showing yet one more time that what we sometimes seek to find isn’t necessarily found in our own backyard.
Sincerely Yours,
Ron Sass & Inna Belyaeva Sass Ron and Inna |
