The story according to James
The first time I saw Lynn she came on a trip in France with my sister. My niece Brooke also came with on this trip. My best friend at the time thought Brooke was pretty attractive but I wouldn’t let him flirt with her. However, I agreed it was a good idea for the 4 of us to hangout together. So my friend and I took Lynn and Brooke to a pub trying to have fun. The first time I really noticed Lynn was that day when we went to the pub, she was so beautiful. After the pub we went on a walk around a lake. With the moonlight shining in her blue eyes it was really the perfect scene to have a first kiss. But I wasn’t single, I was in a relationship with someone at that time, so I had to let it go. I knew somehow though that I would see Lynn again someday, it would have to happen.
As I was living my life in France I thought, Lynn is living in the U.S. and building something together was not easy to think about but something which would be huge if it could happen. So once she left I kept living my life and all that life brings. As a man I was not that open-minded, I think that for a woman things that seem impossible to a man are somehow possible. And that is how incredible Lynn is. My sister once said that Lynn could have everything she wants in life, and when she decided on something she figures out how to make it happen (now I know I was one of those things).
So we lost touch because I wasn’t responding well to messages, as I didn’t use email all that much back then. However, whenever I talked to my sister she told me a little bit about Lynn and so somehow I stayed connected. I also knew that from time to time Lynn would ask about my daughters and me. So while Lynn and I were not in direct contact, having this information made me think about Lynn anyway.
Time passed on and I was living on my own in France. I reconnected with all of my American family on Facebook and also knew it was a way to find Lynn back. At first I thought it would be a good way to reconnect as a friend and that friendship grew into love. Lynn and I spent a lot of time on skype talking and I was spending more time with her than anyone else in France. Lynn planned a trip to see me a few months after we reconnected. As the days went on the feelings I had for Lynn grew stronger. Lynn came to France and a few months later I flew to MN with my daughters. Each time we had to say goodbye it was really difficult and I hated to see her crying. Every time we spent time together I was amazed by her and how nice and kind she was. Step by step I was falling in love with Lynn and knew that she was the love of my life.
Marvin Gaye says that there is “no mountain high enough” and the love I share with my wonderful wife made her become my true companion. That is the way that a dream that seemed impossible became real life.
The story according to Lynn
In the Summer of 2002 I was invited to go on a trip to France with some great friends. At the time of the offer I had just purchased a home and didn’t think spending money on a big trip was a good idea. However, I thought this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and we would be staying with her family in France (making it way less expensive) and I knew I had to go.
I was excited to meet her two brothers, June and James. We stayed at June’s home with his family and James spent everyday with us, hanging out and sight seeing. It was pretty immediate that I thought James was cute and a lot of fun to hangout with. However he had a girlfriend and lived in France, cute or not, those are some big things to consider. The trip was wonderful and I really enjoyed my time with everyone, especially James.
I returned to the states and continued to try and stay connected to James, if nothing else he was a great friend to have. I sent him a thank you card (which he still has) and a movie for the girls. I think I called him a few times on the phone and emailed. After a few months our contact dwindled and I went on living my life. It was always nice to hear updates about him from his sister and to know how he and his girls were doing.
Fast forward to 2009. June and his children traveled to MN to spend a month with his sister and her family. I was able to spend some time with them and on more than 1 occasion one of the kids would bring James up in conversation. Elly said, “James says hi!” Another day Milan said, “do you remember our uncle James?” to which I responded “yes” and then he was speaking in French and giggling with his sisters.
On the following Tuesday evening I was headed to Pilates with a friend. She and I have been friends forever and she was aware of who James was and the trip I had taken to France many years ago. I was telling her the story of what the kids had to say about James when I saw them. Within a few moments of talking about this my phone beeped to notify that I had a friend request on Facebook. It was James asking me to be friends. His timing seemed unreal but I quickly accepted. We chatted on Facebook, which quickly became daily conversations on skype.
As we talked, it was easy to remember why I thought he was cute and fun all those years ago. I was becoming really connected to him and developing feelings. After a few months of talking I planned a trip to France to go see him. The trip was amazing and all of the feelings that I had been feeling for him the last 6 months became even stronger and more real in person. About 6 months later his daughters and him traveled to MN. They were able to meet all of my family and friends and it felt so natural and that they had always been a part of it. Right before leaving for France he proposed and asked me to be his wife.
I of course accepted and he left the following day to return to France (talk about a roller-coaster of emotions…so happy to be engaged to the man I love and so sad to say goodbye and watch him leave on that plane). We had already had conversations about the future and where we would live together initially, France (so that we could be near his girls until they got older).
We had a great deal of conversations trying to figure out details of a wedding. How soon should we get married? Should we do that in France or MN? If in France what sort of visa would I need to be able to stay in France before and after a marriage? Depending on which continent it was held on who would be able to attend? Would we have a wedding in both locations? After doing lots of research the best option for us seemed to be a wedding in the US and then apply for a long stay visa for a spouse of a French National. Planning a wedding was stressful, but we had an additional element to consider. Once some of these details were sorted out the wedding was planned in about 6-8 weeks. It was an amazing day and if all of our family had been able to attend it would have literally been perfect!
Looking back it’s amazing to me that a trip many years ago would be such a huge part of my future. It just goes to show that you never really know when or where you will meet the love of your life and your future spouse!
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| The proposal |
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| The wedding |
