Home Poetry Work About Contact "How we met" by Patrick Looking at Wendy and I, I think people would expect that we don't hale from the same part of the world. The fact is we really are not from same regions of planet earth. She is from Mexico and I'm from the US, Wisconsin particularly, but I now live in Minnesota. So then the question of how we met comes into play. How in the world does a Mexican meet a Midwestern American that's only really been out of the country once, and that was for a short two-week missions trip? Let me tell you. I grew up in Wisconsin and later moved to Minnesota in the summer of 2000. I had just returned from a mission trip with YWAM to Trinidad & Tobago and was looking for a fresh start in life. I was starting a new job and learning a whole new city (much larger than my home town of Eau Claire). It was a tough move, mainly because I was leaving a very supportive church home. However, that need was met very quickly when the Lord gave me a new home. Ok, so it was 2000 when I moved to the Twin Cities... after living in an apartment for almost one year, purchasing a home in Bloomington and settling in... now on the line of time it was March of 2003. I'd been in the Twin Cities for just about three years and it was finally starting to feel like home. Even since going to college for computer programming I'd been online. I usually just stuck to emailing and never really got into using chat rooms or anything like that, however, when Instant Messaging became available... I was hooked. I would spend hours after work chatting with friends, some that I knew personally, but some that I'd never even physically met. In my online endeavors I stumbled upon Xanga and began my very own weblog. In this community I have made and am still making many friends. Well because of one of these friends I was introduced to a web site that I thought was just plain ridiculous. Just for kicks I decided to open an account at HotorNot.com... how crazy, but how fun :-). After having this silly account for a while I started getting feed back votes and though it was silly, it was pretty fun. I started doing some searches on the site to see what other kind of people did this stuff. I searched and searched and I found all sorts of people, it really was amazing. A particular night I was feeling "adventurous" and did a search for people in Mexico. It was that night that I first saw the woman that I was going to marry. At this point in my HotorNot adventure I had contacted a few people through the site, but talks never really lead to anything more than just an online friendship. I was thinking this case would be no different. The night I saw Wendy's profile, I quickly realized that she at least had a friend that could type up a brief description in English. I later learned that it wasn't a friend at all; in fact it was her since she is fully bi-lingual. Not knowing for sure, but thinking there was a good chance she knew English I made contact through HotorNot. I guess she liked what she saw because I received a response back :-). Well, the funny thing about HotorNot is they have a tricky catch to their web site. You can contact someone, but you can't pass email addresses unless you pay $$$. You can't send text messages what-so-ever. At the time it was $5.95 per month for a "premium" type membership. So for that little amount I decided to pay it for one month. Now we were able to get in touch. I must have seemed like a stalker! We exchanged an email or two and then we started Instant Messaging through Yahoo. I quickly realized I was dealing with an incredible woman. She was smart and very whitty and I looked forward to chatting with her. Only a few days after we began chatting she took a weekend vacation. When she returned from vacation we ended up chatting just about every night. It was what I looked forward to at the end of each day. Days past and we continued chatting each and every day. At some point we started considering meeting each other and began talking about how that would happen. After all she was still in Mexico and I was in Minnesota! After several discussions we thought that it would be best if she comes to Minnesota. She seemed to have more of a flexible schedule. So we started making plans and looking into plane ticket costs. Some time into the process of working out the details it seemed like the timing of it all wasn't going to work out. We considered the possibility of me coming to Mexico instead. The thought never crossed my mind really, but then I realized I had a bunch of unused vacation time, I think it was meant to be that I go instead. So the plans changed gears a bit. We adjusted our plane ticket search a little... now from Minnesota instead! After working all the details out with my boss at work and purchasing the plane ticket the meeting date was set. July 4th, 2003 was going to be the big day. Days passed and we continued chatting every day, looking forward to the big meeting day. As the day approached we both were getting very excited... and maybe even a little nervous. I arranged for a friend to take me to the airport on the 4th and that's exactly what I ended up doing. My flight was scheduled to leave the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport that Friday afternoon, make a pit stop in Chicago (while I changed planes), then off to El Paso, TX. The first leg of the flight was very smooth. I met a very nice middle-aged woman on the flight that was flying out of the country to take photos (fun job). My layover in Chicago was initially very quick. I got off the plane and just a few minutes later I was back on ready to take off in another. However, I didn't realize I was in for a bit of an adventure. The plane I boarded that was set to fly to El Paso was very empty. The plane normally held about 120 passengers, but there were about 20 of us scattered about the aircraft. It was later in the evening and we were all ready for a good nap. It was just then that all the power went out in the plane. Aside from the minimal light coming in the windows, everything was dark. A few moments later there was an announcement that there would be a delay while they fixed the airplane, but we could just wait in our seats. Then the buzz started. I think all 20 of us agreed that we didn't really care to fly in a plane that just recently had lost all power! After about 30 minutes of waiting and the temps getting higher and higher (remember it's July and very hot) the lights flickered and there was an announcement that we were just about ready to go but they needed to load a few more things on the plane. This is when the real problems began... Turns out the "few things" were some refreshments, so that wasn't all bad. I guess they figured they could give us some coke and juice and we would be more at ease about the flight. We started backing out of the gate and the plane suddenly stopped... again. This time there wasn't anything wrong with the electricity, but there was a little problem with the food truck that was still parked behind the wing of the plane!! Stupido! No, it wasn't a real Mack Truck, but it was a good size truck, one that you would think they could see! Turns out the people directing the plane from the ground where in a blind spot to see the truck, so they sent the plane back out of the gate and BOOM! The part of the wing that controls the lift and descent of the plane was rolled back like a can of sardines. Needless to say the plane was not about to take off anytime soon. So we were stuck once again for a little while. So we sat for a little while longer and then we were notified that we were going to switch to another plane. So, we all got off the plane and started walking to another gate where the second plane of the day was waiting for us to hitch a ride. At this point I was sure my luggage was going to be lost! We boarded the new plane, all 20 of us, and settled in. We all agreed that since we already survived one plane crash we were pretty safe that we wouldn't crash again... since it's very unlikely a person would be involved in more than one plane crash in a lifetime ;) Another food truck pulled up to, once again, load on some refreshments for us. After doing that, securing all the buttons and hatches... and double and triple checking that the truck was out of the way... we started to back away from the gate. This time, all was smooth and we took off in just a few minutes. Less than two hours later the plane landed in El Paso, TX... about three hours late (which wasn't that bad considering I was in a plane crash). I'm gathering my things and saying my goodbyes to my new 'plane-crash' friends and it hits me that I'm going to see Wendy for the first time in person in just a few moments. Up until this point we had only conversed through computer related means; of course I was nervous. However, I had just flew several hundred miles and wasn't about to turn back now, so I exited the plane. The time had come; I was finally going to meet my future wife in person. After getting off the plane, I started walking the maze of the little El Paso Airport to locate the baggage claim area. There were a few twists and turns before I came to the large area where security is no longer an issue. I was on the second floor and found my way to the escalator where I began my decent. Of course I had the eagle eye going in full force trying to catch the first look. About half way down the escalator I caught my first real sight of her. I could see that beautiful black hair in any crowd, even though to this point I had only seen pictures. It took only a few seconds until I set foot on ground floor, but she was already walking towards me by then. It wasn't the tv-like leaping and gliding toward one another, just a steady confident walk with our eyes locked on each other. I'm positive that I don't remember anyone else even being there... until later on when I met some of her family that came with that day. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!?!" hahaha. Ok, those were not the first words she said to me.... fact is I don't remember for sure what the first words were that we exchanged... probably "Hi" or something very profound like that. However, if my memory serves me better than it normally does... I believe the first thing that happened was not words, but a hug. Funny thing is, when talking online I was convinced that I would kiss her at first site. I guess, the nervousness of the moment got the best of me and that idea left the building. Not that those lips were not deserving by any means, I was just a little too nervous. So, after the hug and some quick stories of the amazing flight we strolled together to where some of her family was waiting. I was introduced to her mother first... and at least at the moment I don't remember who else was there. We grabbed my luggage and started off on our drive to Chihuahua. (I just realized that I never mentioned the city Wendy was from until just now.) The drive was interesting. First off I had never been to Mexico before, so crossing the southern border was a first for me. All in all, the crossing of the boarder was uneventful. We stopped and talked briefly with the boarder police and we were off to the great city of Chihuahua. About half way to Chihuahua we stopped at this little road side restaurant for some REAL burritos! They were very good and the chili was pretty spicy, but very good. However, this little pit-stop was no where near the highlight of the drive. Being that it was very late at night; most of us were dozing off in the car (obviously not the driver). Wendy and I sat in the backseat next to one another and talked a bit. At some point along the way our hands met and we held hands for a period of time (pretty much for the rest of the drive). Then in the dim light of car dash, our eyes met and it was that moment that we had our first kiss. It wasn't the incredibly passionate kiss that we both spoke of in our online chats, but it was a kiss none the less... and a memorable one at that. Now, with that first kiss out of the way, we relaxed a bit ;) and enjoyed the ride home. When we arrived at the house, it was nearly already morning, but we were all so beat from the long day (and night) we decided to get some sleep. Wendy lead me upstairs to show me the bed that I was going to sleep in before she would go back downstairs to change and head to bed herself. She showed me the room and where everything was and we exchanged our goodnight's and she started to head back downstairs. Before she could reach the top of the stairs to begin her decent, without saying a word I grabbed her arm, spun her around and kissed her with the kiss she deserved... the kiss we talked about for those many hours online. THAT was the kiss I will never forget, and neither will she. The first night of sleep after all these events was nice. It had been such a long day with so many things happening I slept great, even though it was in a strange bed. I don't remember much from that first full day in Mexico, only that it was a Saturday. Sunday was a different story, so on to Sunday. There's a tradition of sorts in Wendy's family for Sunday's. Everyone goes to church and then later in the afternoon we all meet at her grandma's house for a huge family lunch. Before I get to the lunch, I would like to say that church was very cool. Sure I understood about three words the whole service, but the excitement and energy that was in that place was great :). You knew the spirit of God was alive in the midst of these people. I even found myself trying to sing in Spanish before the end of the service... it was pretty weird for this white boy. After church was over, we headed back to the house for a little while to just relax before the family get-together. This was going to be the first time I meet most all of Wendy's family. I was already overwhelmed by all the people that I had met just at the church and now there was a whole new set of people to meet. It was a lot, but I knew I could handle it. So, after an hour or so, we took off for granny's house. I remember most of the people that I met that day, mostly because I've seen them several times since then... but what I remember most about that day is the food! Wow! There were so many different foods it was really amazing. I think it was the greatest variety of food I've seen inside a person's home in my life. The best part was I love Mexican food and this was REAL Mexican food. This stuff put Taco Bell to shame! I tried just about everything and loved most of it. The food was incredible... however; I wasn't quite prepared for what was in store the following days. The next morning I woke up just fine, but as the day progress I started to notice that I was making more and more trips to the bathroom. I don't have anything against the bathroom and all, but it's not exactly the place I want to spend my time in Mexico. I guess the food got the best of my stomach and this was my stomach's way of saying, "See what happens when you eat EVERYTHING". I tried everything to stop the flow, but nothing worked. The next several days were spent resting and drinking fluids and trying to fight off this 'bug' that I seemed to had caught. Nothing seemed to change my relationship with the throne in Wendy's house. I took some medicine, I drank fluids, I tried to eat some things... nothing. So for the rest of visit I became very acquainted with the throne. Near the end of my visit Wendy's mother started to wonder if I was going to make it. I was looking very pale and she was concerned that I was thinking they didn't like me and were trying to off me rather than take the chance I would someday become part of the family! I knew that wasn't the case, but the language barrier stopped us from communicating this. Wendy later shared with me her mother's worries and I assured her that I didn't think they were trying to kill me. When my stay was over I was still sick and they were all a little worried about me and how I would do traveling home. See I flew down to Mexico weighing about 178 lbs and I came home weighing about 163 lbs, talk about a crash diet! Considering I was there for 10 days and only 6 or 7 of those I was sick, that was A LOT of weight to be losing in just a few days. Still, I insisted that I would be fine so they took me back to the El Paso airport. My flight back home was on the same airline and through Chicago again, but this time it was much less eventful and I was very happy about that. I wouldn't have cared to endure another plane crash in the state I was. I was picked up by a friend at the Minneapolis Airport and taken home for some rest in a familiar bed. The next day I saw the doc and sure enough I had caught some kind of bacteria, so I picked up a prescription on my way home and a few days later I was completely back to normal... physically anyway... emotionally however, I was just beginning to taste the new life that was to come.