First off I want to thank everyone for being a support to one another and I am super blessed and happy to be part of the VJ community! My wife is still sleeping if anyone is wondering why I am saying I so much lol Anyway!Mayreth and I (Edward) met on a dating\personals website about February of 2004. I was truly lucky because she wrote me first
I never had really considered a relationship with anyone outside the United States. Mostly because of the costs involved and time it takes, not to mention lack of personal contact. Although it had crossed my mind, I never pursued it or the emails I would sometimes receive from foreign women. Somehow Mayreth was different and so I checked on her profile and found her to be warm and sincere. We spoke almost daily on Yahoo messenger after that. The ability for us to communicate on Yahoo (daily) was key in the evolution of our relationship. To make a very long story short, it just blossomed over time into something beautiful. At one point I had lost hope because I never thought I could get the money to travel to Cebu. I got depressed I vanished from the net for 2 months. 
I felt hopeless and guilty that I could never come and give what she needed. But after that long 2 months, I couldnt resist and we were back to talking and happy to be together (online). Soon we discussed marriage and kids and all the fun things a couple would chat about 
I didnt know how I was going to Cebu, but nonetheless we planned it out for the following year. One day I announced to my family I was getting married to a Cebuano and none of them believed me. About a month later the family was curious and approached me about it. I confirmed and confirmed the date with them. About a week later the family blessed me with everything I needed to get to Cebu and back! Yay! I am getting long winded, but I just want to extend appreciation to all of you out there who are going through this challenge together. I am glad to know your there because it seems in the local immigration office (here in Cebu) the Americans dont seem to notice eachother and it kind of gets me down. I often wonder why is that? We are like a family in a way, we depend on one another and take the same journey in life and love. Perhaps someone has some lite to share on that?
One final thought. Are there local groups of Phil\American couples in cities and towns around the US? That might be something neat to get involved in :)Thank you all!
Orimai
