Clarity

Recently, while reading most of Facebook, I noticed that Jamie, one of my long-time UK FB friends, was expecting a guest, the lovely Claire, from NY.    I got up on Thursday morning and noticed they had posted an audio of them chatting with each other, and to all of their FB friends, really.   So I turned it up and listened while we fixed breakfast.

It reminded me of my own love affair, with my amazing now-husband, also British, like Jamie.  The girl from Nebraska met the British boy while blogging, then talking, and then I decided, “I have to meet you”, and flew to Heathrow, and spent the week with him, and my friend Jane, who is my best friend, who I also had not met, but spent many hours emailing with.

It was the scariest, most exciting thing I had ever done.  I was leaving my daughter behind for a whole week, and that was completely unnerving.   I was flying for 12 hours (!) overseas, where I had never been before.   I was meeting a man I was very comfortable with, but understood that stuff happens and things sometimes don’t turn out the way you expect, so I had a Plan B, which was to stay with Jane, if Plan A fell apart.

It didn’t.

I had the most amazing time, after I got over the air sickness.  I remember laying over for a few hours in Chicago.   For some reason, that day in 张柏芝啪啪视频 was the hottest day ever in O’Hare.  Ian called to make sure I was ok and I told him I felt like I was going to pass out in the heat.  “But I’m ok!”

I flew to Heathrow from Chicago.   The sun went down very quickly and then came up again quite quickly.   It was bizarre.  I noticed the cars driving on opposite sides of the streets below.  When I landed, it was still 2am to me, but 8am in London.  The sun was up.   Everyone was awake and the airport was very busy.   I felt sick for a minute, but then noticed “British advertisements” playing over the speakers.

And then I thought, “Oh my God!   I’m actually in LONDON!”   And not only that, but every nationality I could imagine was right there in the airport, waiting to get through Border Control.   I remember one man saying, “I am never going to fly this far again!”.   He said the plane was stuck on the tarmac for an hour because they couldn’t deplane until 8am.  Some rule, I guess.

Anyway, what I didn’t explain to the Border Guard was that Ian and I had rehearsed all typical entry questions and answers.   I had to answer 20 of them.   “What are you here for?”  “Are you travelling alone?”  “Who is picking you up?”  “How are you travelling from the airport?”  “How long are you here?”  “How much money have you brought?”  etc.   🙂   I was thinking how horrid it would be if they didn’t let me in, when they stamped my passport.   Hoorah!  I’m in!

I was quite pleased with myself.   The long flight was over and I’m ok!   I got through border control all by myself.  Yay!     So I went to get my luggage, went to the bathroom, and then went to the Arrivals Lounge, where Ian was waiting for me.   It was quite awesome.  I could not stop smiling.   He was exactly the person I thought he would be.   Plus, we were driving on the wrong side of the road and there were so many old buildings (not American “old” but “Really Old”).

We drove through a forest and Ian was explaining about how many deer are in the woods, and then I called Jane to say, “It’s going really well and I’m not dead”.    She was so pleased!  Jane was the one that wrote my “You Can Do This” manifesto before I left for England.   I held it close to me while I travelled, just in case I doubted I could do this.

That week was a whirlwind, really.   Ian cooked nice dinners and we got lost in Campbell Park.   We visited the market, ate odd things, drank wine, met Jane, met Ian’s mom and sister, her son, Hayden, and Bouncer (the boxer).   We did not go to London (that was actually trip 3!).    We just hung out together and had a lot of fun.

A week later, we said goodbye inside the airport and “see you again soon”, and I cried so much that I was practically hysterical.   But that’s just the way I am.

I went far to see what life had to give.  I tried something new and extraordinary, and it was amazing.   So glad I met the love of my life, and he became my husband.

Good luck with your love story, Claire and Jamie.   It can be quite magical.

We’ve been married for 6 years today!