The story of Anna actually started about a year and a half ago when one of my shareholders came to town to visit our facilities. He is a tax attorney from NYC..actually had a brother die in the towers. He knew I was married, but I guess he saw I wasn't well, probably because I hit on the waitress a little too much, but he suggested a site that he had been on for 6 or 7 years...and said that Ukrainian women are the most beautiful on earth....of course I laugh at him, and yes I was married and really didn't give it any further thought. Then obviously things happened and I wasn't married anymore. Now the past three years or so, I started learning what I liked in women and then earlier this year I was in a relationship that confirmed everything that I thought I liked. A simple thing like watching a woman put on makeup to look pretty and deciding what to wear...and then when she was done!!...wow, worth all the wait...things like that, I found I immensely enjoyed. Well, that relationship ended with no regrets because she is an incredible woman and the value of what I learned about myself ...well, I am very thankful for that experience.
So at the end of July, this shareholder was back in town...and said Chad, you really have to check out this site...So...I did. , it was a dating website. My shareholder/now friend had been dating a girl named Kate for the past 5 years from the site, and I really wasn't looking for anything quite honestly. A girl friend wasn't necessary, but I went on and joined to see what all his fuss was about. I took the time to build my profile and then let it rip....OMG. First you should know there are 30,000 men internationally on the site and 22,000 women. ....it was overwhelming. To be honest, I don't have much time to date because I work pretty much all the time, and I really haven't been looking for a girlfriend. The relationship I had earlier this year was purely coincidental...it just happened...it had its purpose and changed my life..but it wasn't expected. So...profile up...I got 100 emails an hour the first 7 days. I didn't know what to do. First, Ukrainian women are that beautiful, but I would delete page after page of emails only looking at faces. Over 7 days, I responded to only 6 women out of the 1500-2000 emails a day. One of the 6 told me on the third day, I was the 96th (she could have been just pumping my ego) most popular guy on the site. So, I sent 6 emails to six women and got 5 responses back. The one who DIDN'T respond? Anna...this is when it starts getting really cool..so I corresponded with a couple and it was ok, but i'm a busy guy and didn't really dive into much after deleting page after page of emails...but I still hadn't heard from Anna. I kept checking for a response from Anna911...and nada. My friend sent me an email on how it was going on the site. I told him I was overwhelmed and that of the one I was interested in, I hadn't received a response. He says he thinks he knows my type and that I really should check out the profile of one of his "matches"....yep, you guessed it...Anna911. Well, after picking myself off the floor and putting my heart back in my chest, I wrote back "That's the girl who won't respond to me!!!!" He said he would see if he could contact her. A day later he emails me and tells me that he spoke with her and that she was only able to check the site at work and she had very little time there....of course. But she immediately responds later that day. She told me later that she had given up on the site and that she wasn't going to check it again and that only because D had contacted her, did she begin to be interested. We only messaged for a couple of days and it was when she had a few minutes to get on the site when her boss wasn't looking. She told me that brother had moved out of the house with his girlfriend and he had the only computer....of course. We obviously I wanted to see where this was going and the only way to do that is to talk more, so I offered to provide a laptop to her. She said "no, but thank you"...I've been accused of being a "fixer" many times...so I understood and didn't push it. Then one day, my Skype account "dings" to accept a new contact...It was her!!! My handle was the same as my Skype name and she said she took a chance and found me....Seeing her for the first time live was ....simply amazing. I could tell she was nervous and excited...and she was at work. So we talked for just a minute. She skype messaged me after two days and asked me if the offer still stood for her to get a laptop so she could see me more....of course, with pleasure I said "yes, absolutely". ...damn, I got to writing a book...oops! If anyone actually reads this stuff I will be more than happy to continue, but maybe I should have stuck to the Reader's Digest Version...I just really like our story...it's quite amazing.
...so after a couple of comments, I have chose to continue. So, the very next day I sent her money for a laptop. She was so excited to get it. It took a couple of days to get internet at her house, but from the day she got it, Skype has been our friend. Well, the laptop wasn't enough communication for me because Anna is a very social, very busy young lady and her time at home sometimes did not coordinate with my schedule. She didn't have a smart phone, so she couldn't use it for Skype. I have an Iphone4S that I have been very happy with so I suggested that perhaps I should send her one. Again, reluctant, but she admitted that she had always wanted an Iphone. So I sent her a 4S unprogrammed and she took it from there. I had Skype on her laptop and Skype on her Iphone as well as text...I was liking this! We talked a little every day. It became evident that I had to meet her. Because we took the time to communicate for a while learning about who we were, when I mentioned a meet, it was well received. She said she needed to clear it with her parents and I understood this. Their little girl was wanting to be flown to a tropical island that she has never met....that they have never met....and trust that she would be safe. Apparently she very much wanted this, so they gave her permission. She was excited to tell me that she could go....now where was the question. Obviously I had never done anything like this before, so I sought my friends help in how to arrange the trip. Well, it became much easier because he said that he and Kate wanted to go. Fantastic. So in August we begin planning the adventure and the DR was chosen. It was both exciting and agonizing planning the trip and having to wait to the end of October before I could meet this beautiful and fascinating woman who was quickly winning more and more space within my heart.
.....another pause....typing cramps.
Time passed, though at times, excruciatingly slow...but the count was down to days and the excitement was growing. I wasn't nervous yet...that's just not me. I was just ready. One can spend a lot of time dreaming of the perfect meet. ...how you approach each other...do you hug...do you kiss...what do you say...? And I did my share of that. I still wasn't nervous when I got on the plane. So it is October 22nd and I'm in route. I got a really good rate at the counter for a first class seat so I took it. Now I will post the picture, but as we are enroute to DR, I'm on the right side of the plane and I had three windows to myself. I kept seeing this massive cloud formation and just kept watching it. It just didn't look right. I thought it was a cumulus on top of what I thought might be cuba or another island. We were about an hour from the DR. From the time that I boarded the plane, to the time I landed and woke up the next morning....that weird looking cloud had turn into Hurricane Sandy... rabbit trail..back on track. ...so we started the descent...and I started to get nervous. It was dawning on me that I was about to encounter the most beautiful woman I've ever known but haven't met. The plane leaves and being first class, I got to customs first and didn't have to wait in any lines. I walked toward the baggage claim...looking back and forth to find her. I saw her from about 50 meters away...just the back of her and knew it was her just from her long dark hair. Then I saw Doug beside her....oh yeah...Doug was meeting Kate there and we were staying at the same resort. Doug arrived about an hour before Anna so Anna wouldn't be alone. ...I walk up not knowing what to expect. She turned her head when I was about 15 feet away and jumped up and ran toward me. She put her arms around me and tucked her head into my chest and just kept hugging me...it was for a solid 5 minutes when she looked up at me and I said "hi". She said "hi", smiled real big and then tucked her head back into my chest. I just held her and took in the scent of her perfume and hair enjoying the embrace. This probably lasted for a solid 15 minutes. And finally she was finished hugging me and I went to get my luggage. Well, being in first class doesn't mean your luggage is first...it was dead last. I kept waiting and waiting and about 10 minutes later, she comes to stand by me. She leans into me and I again hold her. We talked and I love her accent, but mainly it was just quietness and the joy of being near each other. Finally the luggage came and the luggage boy grabbed the cart. She held my hand, which became a consistent thing for us the entire trip, and we walked toward the car Doug had arranged to pick us up for the 30 minute ride to the resort.
....typing cramps again....next piece.... our first kiss....
