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ok, here goes....
back in 2001, my sis in law
(half colombian, half cuban, born and raised in new york, refined by the marine corps) took one of our nieces to colombia for a big grad present/out of country adventure. on the night before they were to leave, all were sitting around doing the big boo-hoo
, no one wanted them to go, no one wanted to leave. then one asked her if she knew someone up here that she could marry, to be with her husband who was up here (she was joking). sis in law said no (then bride to be walked into the room), but she said that she may have someone for her. she said, eh? then the sis in law gave her the complete rundown on me (remember, mairine corps, no punches pulled here), my future bride said that if i were willing to write, she would be willing to write, and if worse came to worst, we would have a friend in each other's country.
fast forward a few weeks. i had stopped in to the paint store that the sis in law worked at to pick up some supplies, and she asked me if i was still looking. i said more or less, and she said that she might have someone for me in colombia. i looked at her, smiled sweetly, and asked if this was one of those green card and gone deals one hears about. she said no, and that she wouldn't pull that with me, and then described my future bride to a t, and then showed me a picture. i said, ok, i'll write, but i would need her help with the spanish (that was the day i started panic learning it).
the date of the first letter was september 24th, and after a while we called it our anniversary date. after 2 years of letters every month, emails every week
, and sending the occasional surprise gift, with the help of the sis in law (we spent a week writing a page and a half proposal), on our 2nd anniversary, i told her that i had something important to say to her, that i had it written down, and to wait until i finished reading it to her. well, she waited exactly 2/10ths of a second before saying yes. i then realized that life as i knew it was now over.
the reaction of the family ranged from happy
, to our dad asking me if i were nuts
. then that november, the sis in law and i flew down there for 10 days, to meet the bride to be, and the rest of the family, and sightsee. this would be the first time we met. we organized a surprise, telling the one soon to be sis in law we were thinking about showing up for the bride to be's birthday (not telling her that we were going to be wheels up at 7:30 the next morning), and i told her that the next letter would be a special one. we landed in medellin, and went to the sis in law's aunt's house (around the corner and down the block from the bride to be), and walked over. boy, were they surprised to see us walking down the block. it was nuts. then i walked over to the bride to be and handed her the letter (special delivery). we then had a nice 10 days of getting to know each other, visiting, and sightseeing. she also introduced me to all her girlfriends. before we left, we set the date for the wedding the next december.
a year later, back in medellin, we got married, but not without some paperwork fun first.
when we had our visit with the priest (catholic ya know, and he was only about as tall as my shoulder, and looked like joe pesci), he said that we should have had this discussion a month ago, but since i wasn't in the country at the time (he started leafing through his desk calendar), he said that we all would agree that this discussion took place a month ago today
.
after the wedding, reception, and short honeymoon, we had to register the marriage with the civil autorities. we wound up doing that the day before we had to leave. the gal at the registrar's office was very helpful. normally what would happen is that the paperwork goes from the church, to the diocese, back to the church, then to the couple, and finally registered. but she said that since we were leaving the next day, she would trust my wife
to bring in the paperwork when she got it back from the church, and regisered the marriage. just the reverse of what should have happened.
i got copies and the original of the registration for the start of the immigration paperwork, but that's another nightmare...
but that's how i met the wife, and married her....
back in 2001, my sis in law
(half colombian, half cuban, born and raised in new york, refined by the marine corps) took one of our nieces to colombia for a big grad present/out of country adventure. on the night before they were to leave, all were sitting around doing the big boo-hoo, no one wanted them to go, no one wanted to leave. then one asked her if she knew someone up here that she could marry, to be with her husband who was up here (she was joking). sis in law said no (then bride to be walked into the room), but she said that she may have someone for her. she said, eh? then the sis in law gave her the complete rundown on me (remember, mairine corps, no punches pulled here), my future bride said that if i were willing to write, she would be willing to write, and if worse came to worst, we would have a friend in each other's country.fast forward a few weeks. i had stopped in to the paint store that the sis in law worked at to pick up some supplies, and she asked me if i was still looking. i said more or less, and she said that she might have someone for me in colombia. i looked at her, smiled sweetly, and asked if this was one of those green card and gone deals one hears about. she said no, and that she wouldn't pull that with me, and then described my future bride to a t, and then showed me a picture. i said, ok, i'll write, but i would need her help with the spanish (that was the day i started panic learning it).
the date of the first letter was september 24th, and after a while we called it our anniversary date. after 2 years of letters every month, emails every week
, and sending the occasional surprise gift, with the help of the sis in law (we spent a week writing a page and a half proposal), on our 2nd anniversary, i told her that i had something important to say to her, that i had it written down, and to wait until i finished reading it to her. well, she waited exactly 2/10ths of a second before saying yes. i then realized that life as i knew it was now over.the reaction of the family ranged from happy
, to our dad asking me if i were nuts. then that november, the sis in law and i flew down there for 10 days, to meet the bride to be, and the rest of the family, and sightsee. this would be the first time we met. we organized a surprise, telling the one soon to be sis in law we were thinking about showing up for the bride to be's birthday (not telling her that we were going to be wheels up at 7:30 the next morning), and i told her that the next letter would be a special one. we landed in medellin, and went to the sis in law's aunt's house (around the corner and down the block from the bride to be), and walked over. boy, were they surprised to see us walking down the block. it was nuts. then i walked over to the bride to be and handed her the letter (special delivery). we then had a nice 10 days of getting to know each other, visiting, and sightseeing. she also introduced me to all her girlfriends. before we left, we set the date for the wedding the next december. a year later, back in medellin, we got married, but not without some paperwork fun first.
when we had our visit with the priest (catholic ya know, and he was only about as tall as my shoulder, and looked like joe pesci), he said that we should have had this discussion a month ago, but since i wasn't in the country at the time (he started leafing through his desk calendar), he said that we all would agree that this discussion took place a month ago today. after the wedding, reception, and short honeymoon, we had to register the marriage with the civil autorities. we wound up doing that the day before we had to leave. the gal at the registrar's office was very helpful. normally what would happen is that the paperwork goes from the church, to the diocese, back to the church, then to the couple, and finally registered. but she said that since we were leaving the next day, she would trust my wife
to bring in the paperwork when she got it back from the church, and regisered the marriage. just the reverse of what should have happened. i got copies and the original of the registration for the start of the immigration paperwork, but that's another nightmare...
but that's how i met the wife
, and married her....
