It's been a while (long)

I was going through my favorites and deleting links I haven't used for a while and when I got to the "P's", I forgot how long it's been since I posted to this board. As I scan the users, I remmeber names like wsbill, LP, cold warrior, bobby orr, and a few others. It's nice to see some guys don't fade away (like me). I faded away because of the my marriage to a FSU woman. For all the good reasons...just too busy in love. I haven't told my story for quite some while, so I figured I would share on this board again for those who may have not heard such a "not so typical" story. I remember wsbill accusing me of being a troll for telling such a story. Well, no troll I may be, here is the story again with some updated info. Enjoy.

I was the guy back in 02-2001 who went to an FSU republic to meet a girl I met on a connection website. I was the guy who flew 5,000 miles east to meet a woman I knew by e-mail for only 4 months. I was the guy who she e-mail before I left that her father and her could not meet me at the airport because their car broke. I was the guy, who discovered upon arrival into Baku, forgot the directions to her city and apartment back home. I was the guy who rented a car and drove well outside the city limits of Baku, Azerbaijan all day looking for some little stinking town north of Sumgiat, Azerbaijan. I was the guy who drove through an abandonded chemical factory near the Caspian wondering what that stench was in the air. I was the guy that got pulled over for speeding and the policeman and I babbled back-and-forth in languages we did not understand until he let me go. I was the guy that never met the woman I came to see.

In a very weird situation, I thought I would do something "normal" and to go back to my hotel and e-mail her and tell her why I did not show and that I was at the hotel and I would pay for her taxi to come to me. I fired off the e-mail.

She won't check e-mail for a while, so... what to do now... I'm hungry. So I go to the bar at the hotel and order a beer. Still hungry. I ask the bartender, who doesn't speak english, where to get food. (For some reason, rubbing your belly with your hand works for any language). He was a Turkish man, so naturally he told me the name of a Turkish restaurant only a few blocks away. I wasn't in the mood to try something I haven't had before, so I went up to the receptionist on my floor and asked him where to go. He told me the same restaurant. Now if that were the only restaurant in town, it wouldn't seem strange, but there were 50 restaurants within 5 blocks of my hotel in a city of 2 million. Still unwilling, I asked the elevator attendant (they have jobs for everything there) where I should eat. He said the same restaurant. 3 different people, in 3 seperate inquiries, all say the same restaurant. Alright, I give in, I think to myself. I walk to the restaurant and I enter. I see 6 waitresses sitting at a table folding napkins and as they all look at me. My eyes wonder for a split second and focus on the most beautiful green eyes I have ever seen in my life. That moment is and will be forever frozen in my mind. I can see it clearly as I write this nearly 3 years past. She stands up and walks towards me to greet me and bring me to a table. I sit down and she speeks to me in Russian. Everything is in slow motion as her lips move and as she fiddles with the pen and paper in her hands. I can't understand a word she is saying as I uncontrollably smile and stare into her eyes. She's smiling as she speaks. Pause. I studder and stammer as I say, "Ne punny-my-yoo pa Russki.", while my ear-to-ear grin is sustained. She begins to speak broken english and asks me if I want some soup. Looking back now, I know how important the soup is. I just say yes or "da". She continues to smile and walks away. I couldn't keep my eyes off of her and stared at her legs an butt as she walked away. I remember so distinctively this thought, "Why couldn't I have come all the way over here to meet a woman like that!" I eat, we talk, we flirt, we smile, I pay, I leave. I go back to the hotel and check my e-mail for a response from the woman I was going to meet. She responded! Cool! Things may work out after all. I read her e-mail...reading....reading...what the f-heck! She says she does not want to see me because I never showed up and she is in love with another man. I laugh! Better than crying, right? I sat there for a moment pondering...pondering...pondering... I am a normally spiritualistic guy, so I look up and ask God, "Why did you bring 5000 miles from home to meet a woman who doesn't want to meet me?" That's when I almost thought I heard him laugh. A moment later, her face was in my mind-The waitress from the restaurant. I thought, "No, this can't be...No...well, she was cute...No...No way, that's too farfetched...Nuh-ah...can't be...I'll sleep on it. Next day I go (run) to the restaurant and it was closed - OK, I went early 'cause I could not wait to see her again. I ordered some tea. After an hour or so, I asked her on a date. She said she would have to ask her mom if it was OK. Skip ahead of her phone call with mom. We met after her work that night and attempted to have conversations with an English-Russian dictionary. We met everyday after and I met her family. Just spending time with her and talking was incredible. We had chemistry. I knew it. I felt as if I fell in love with her at first sight, in the restaurant. One night, I remember holding her in my arms down by the Caspian and gazing into her eyes. Strange, but I felt I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I asked if I could kiss her and she said...NO! Sounds of screeching tires in my head! I'm thinking she either does not like me that much or she's just a self-respectable woman and doesn't kiss any guy she meets. I optimistically hoped for the latter. That night, before I dropped her off at home, I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She melted towards me and we kissed. Another moment forever engrained in my head. Knowing I had to leave the country soon, I told her i wanted her to be my wife. A sudden proposal, but I explained the Visa process would take some time and we could e-mail and talk on the phone for at least 6 months before she came to America. I explained that if she thought it wouldn't work out, we had time to be honest with each other. I then explained that after she got her Visa and came to America, we would have 3 months to live with each other and, again, be honest with each other if it wasn't going to work out, she could go back home. She looked at me with those big beautiful green eyes, smiled, and said, "First, you have to ask my mother for my hand in marriage." I loved this woman for saying that because mom said, "So soon, while crying, and then hugged me and said horosho." (side note - had to spend a lot of time with mom to know me after that.)

Today, we have a son together and are expecting another child. Everything is working out well. I can't say we didn't have rough times through all the culture conflicts, but we love each other, believe in each other, and work things out as a team. She's the love of my life and I feel like I am the luckiest guy on earth. By the way, mom is here with us right now on a visitor visa visiting her grandson. Somehow, the fridge never seems to hold enough Borsch. :-)

Good luck to all who venture into their dreams. God bless.

Flyboy