Celia's story
How we met
It was 29th August 1999 and I was feeling bored, so I searched on ICQ (a chat program) for
someone to chat to. Romance was not at the forefront of my mind, as I had already had
an internet relationship the previous year which didn't work out.
I searched for someone with similar interests as me and several names came back, but I
couldn't resist sending a message to the one who called himself "Tarzan". I
wondered if he was some kind of self-centred muscleman! However, as we exchanged messages
I discovered Joop was actually very sweet and we carried on chatting for four hours!
Getting serious
We continued to send messages to each other every day, and after a few weeks we realized
there was something special between us. We agreed to take things slowly as we had both been
hurt fairly recently. Shortly after, however, we started phoning each other regularly and
things became pretty serious. It was at that point we decided we had to meet and Joop booked
a flight to Jersey so he could be with me and my son Julian over Christmas and the New Year.
I met Joop at the airport on Christmas Eve. The first thing we noticed about each other was
the height difference (I'm 4'11" and he is almost 6' 4")! But we got on perfectly
and the week was over before we knew it. We have said many times since how it felt as if we
had been together for years.
The proposal
After that week I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with Joop so two months later I
went to visit him in Holland for a few days, and on the 29th February 2000 (exactly six
months after we had first exchanged messages) I proposed to him! He said "yes" of
course and we have been engaged now for almost four years! Julian and I left Jersey to
live with Joop in Holland in May 2002.
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