After the long awaited formal wedding proposal was completed,  my groom and I went to my aunt’s house (where I lived) for a few last minute errands that needed to be completed.  I had to get my wedding dress, giveaways and my friend who would apply my make-up.  Then we went back to the resort.  The cameramen were already there waiting for us and about to start the filming.  My family and relatives from the village were on their way to the city.  As soon as we got back to our bungalow, I started getting dressed.

Throughout all the last minute preparations and busyness I didn’t really get a chance to think about what I was doing.  The day I had dreamed of since I was a little girl was finally happening, but all I seemed to be able to feel was an enormous pressure being lifted from my shoulders after the last few weeks of final preparations,  worry about his arrival and the last minute near disasters which had been mercifully avoided.

I had no time to think or worry about the obvious craziness or what many people would consider to be insanity that I was about to engaged in.  Most women in my position would have been, and maybe I should have been, terrified by the thought of committing myself to a man who I had met online only a few months before and met face to face only a couple of hours ago.  That kind of fear and worry were the furthest things from my mind.  It could only have been God that gave me the unwavering confidence and calm to go ahead without the slightest of worries.  There was no doubt in my mind, I was doing the right thing.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the resort.  It was one of those tropical paradise type places complete with palm trees and an open air restaurant overlooking a beautiful outdoor swimming pool with built-in water fall.  Our cozy little wedding night bungalow was tucked just behind the trees at the back of the water fall.  Our wedding was to take place in the outdoor area adjacent to the swimming pool.  It was my perfect wedding day fantasy come true.

As soon as we checked-in I sent text messages to my family in the village that my groom had finally arrived. It was only four hours until the ceremony was scheduled to begin as we entered the bungalow to spend our first few minutes alone together.  He had never actually proposed to me yet because he wanted to do it face to face.  He had only promised that he would when he first arrived.  Well, anyway this was the moment that I had been waiting for…hehehe…He opened his carry-on bag while I was still busy texting. I saw him coming towards me with a single red rose and a jewelry box in his hand.  Then he bended his knee and popped the question, “(my name),  my sweet angel, Will you marry me? Suddenly I felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders, my dream had come true, it was really going to happen, I was actually going to be married this very day.  My response was of course,  “yes, I will marry you”.

After just more than three months of exchanging e-mails back and forth and talking on the phone for hours ($600 worth one month), I finally met him face to face for the first time. He looked the same as the picture that he sent me, 6′4 tall, 280 lbs and good looking .  Before he came closer, my sister who was with me at the time was screaming and couldn’t believe that he had finally arrived. It seemed like we had known each from long before.  Just like any other couple who had been away from each other for quite awhile, we hugged and kissed before we got into the car.

While in the car, I still couldn’t believe that I was finally sitting right next to him. I had to pinch myself to make sure that it wasn’t just a dream, ouch, this was finally for real.

The day before the big day was stressful for me.  I couldn’t eat and couldn’t sleep. It was crazy combination of excited anticipation and worried apprehension.  I had a lot of things on  my mind when I woke up that morning but the main thing was that he would be able to get there on our wedding day.  I was nervous and kept on praying that I wouldn’t embarrass my family.  I was also hoping that he would still love me after he saw me for the first time in person.  What if he changed his mind at the last minute?  The wedding details in particular had already been made and paid for.  As I stood there outside the airport there were just four hours left before the wedding ceremony was about to start.  My family in the village were already on their way to the city and even my aunt & her husband from Guam had made the long flight to be there for my big day.  Was he really going to be there?  Had he made the flight from Manila?  Was I really going to see him for the first time, or was this all just a crazy dream?

It was midday of 22nd of April, 2005 and it was somewhat of a shock when he stepped off the plane into the ninety degree and humid weather of my native southern Philippines.  It was a big shock just having left his northern Minnesota home where the ice had just melted from the lakes and traces of snow drifts could still be found.  I was relieve when I finally saw him coming out of the aircraft.  He was easy to spot at 6′4 and 280 lbs.  He stood head and shoulders above most of the rest of the passengers.  Suddenly it felt like the weight of the world had just lifted from me.  A big sigh of relief came gushing out.

Thirty years ago, the hotel had been one of the premiere spots in Manila but it had not been kept up well in recent years.  When he finally got to the room he discovered that several of the lights weren’t working and the general appearance was in a declining state of repair.  It presented a bit of a gloomy atmosphere but he didn’t really care, all he wanted was a few hours of sleep which again he was about to be denied.

He noticed that his room was separated from a joining room by a thin door which allowed it to be opened up into a double suite as was the custom with many of the older hotels.  He didn’t think much of it at the time and proceeded to attempt to contact me on the phone as we had agreed to do to let me know that he had arrived safely in Manila.

Despite my excitement and worry, I too, was exhausted and had fallen asleep while waiting for his call.  When he got no answer, he assumed the obvious and laid down to try to get some rest.  Unfortunately by that time two men had entered the adjoining room and began a loud and animated discussion which lasted till about 5 am, about one hour before he needed to get up and start preparing for the next leg of his journey.   With the loud  discussion going on in what sounded like the same room he was again unable to get any real sleep.

I woke up with a start at about 2 am and began to panic as I checked my phone and realized that I had missed several calls.  I was afraid that he might think I was backing out and would get on the plane back to the US.  I quickly called and was relieve to hear his tired voice answer.  He wasn’t quite here yet but my relief was great and enabled me to get a sound sleep for the rest of the night despite my excitement for the events of the coming day.

The flight from Manila to Tokyo was another miserable five hours that seemed would never end.  Crammed into what seem to be an ever shrinking airline seat, there was no way to get comfortable enough to be able to sleep.  Though exhausted and in great pain, his spirits were rising as he looked forward to the comfort of the bed in the Manila hotel and the smiling face of his bride to-be the next day.

Unfortunately, his tribulations were not to end that easily.  When he finally got through customs and walked outside of the Manila airport for the first time the reality of the contrast from the place he had left some twenty seven hours earlier and where he was now could not have been more real and surreal at the same time.  The brisk 40 degree Fahrenheit weather of northern Minnesota had suddenly changed to 90 and humid.  What should have been mid- day was now midnight.

He somehow managed to locate the hotel pick up van and was on his way to the downtown Manila place where he was to spend the rest of the night.  Through the pain and exhaustion,  somewhere in the back of his mind, he was wondering if this was real or all a dream.  He was too exhausted to really dwell on the thought or really even care.

As he sat there in the restroom, bleeding profusely, he thought about how he could salvage the situation.  He couldn’t get on the nearly five hour long next leg of the flight to Manila bleeding the way he was.  He knew that if he did not get on that plane there was no way that he was going to make it to his own wedding.  He had visions of being stranded half way around the world from home in a Tokyo hospital with no one to turn to for help.  That was the most depressing feeling that could be imagined.

He felt that he was going to pass out and he did not know if it was because of lack of sleep or lack of blood.  He was crying out to God.  Why had God let this happen?  He sat there for nearly two hours, wondering.  The flight was due to leave in another half an hour.  And then suddenly the bleeding stopped.

It seemed like a miracle.  All of the horror story scenarios that he had been imagining faded away.  He made a make-shift bandage from a pair of white socks and hobbled out just in time to make the plane.  For some reason he was singled out by security to go through a carry-on baggage check.  The bag checker took his passport and when the check was finished forgot to give it back.  In his state of mind he didn’t even think about it.  All he wanted to do was get on the plane and get out of there.  He was the last one to board  just before the doors were about to be closed.  Fortunately the checker realized she had his passport and was able to get it to him just before the plane closed its doors to leave.  Another disaster barely avoided!