It’s a little subtle the way it starts and keeps building deep inside your soul. It penetrates your every thought. It becomes consuming as you spend more and more time and money trying to deceive it. Its name is loneliness and it is why I started searching the Internet.  After my divorce I buried myself in my work and later I started dating. At first my friends would set me up on blind dates, which tested my thoughts whether they really liked me as a friend. I also joined a few personal dating clubs on the Internet. Every road I traveled seemed to lead to the same destination, a dead end. All the women seemed to have an agenda of “ what they wanted” or “what I could do for them”... a criteria that took precedence over any sincere feelings I would have for them.  You may have encountered the “ what’s in it for me” type already. I’m sure not all women here are materialistic and career oriented but where are they?  I tried the personals here but the women seemed to have a list of demands before they would even talk to you. I even started looking into marriage agencies overseas which had a vast amount of ladies to choose from. I lost count of how much I spent on letter writing to numerous ladies through one agency without any assurance of if this was actually the woman in the picture. How old was the picture by the way. Good luck on trying to talk to a real person from the agency because it probably won’t happen in your lifetime. Did I want to spend a large sum of money to take my chances with 400 other guys and be thrown into a room with a lot of women who didn’t speak English???.... I’d have a better chance right here in my back yard. The more I spent answering letters the more women started writing me.... coincidence???   Then one day I accidentally stumbled on Marianna’s agency. I was cautious at first but any doubt I had was quickly dismissed. Before I wrote to any of the ladies I decided to see if I could talk to an actual living person. All my E-mail was usually answered within a couple hours and they actually had a physical address with a working phone number...and this was the best part...Marianna or Cecil would answer the phone. This was all the reassurance I needed so I picked out nine ladies that I was interested in and sent them to Marianna. She reduced the list to six and I sent my introduction letter to them. Within 8 days I received a reply from all of them. Over the next month I wrote to each of the ladies, some more than others because I started developing a relationship with a couple of them. I felt the warmth and sincerity in all of the letters that was unusual compared to the letters from here. I was compelled to visit them to see if it was real. I decided on a date Marianna had available and scheduled the trip through the travel agency she recommended. (By the way the travel agency took care of everything including my visa to the Ukraine) Over the next two months I wrote several letters to each of the ladies. I started to develop my favorites but wrote to all of them just in case they didn’t work out. Well after a couple months this was it; time to leave all that was comfortable and familiar for an adventure that would change my life forever. The flight was easy and by the time I arrived in the Ukraine I was pleased to see two familiar faces I recognized from pictures from the agency. The ride to Chernivtsi was a mixture of beautiful scenery and pleasant conversation--lots of jokes. The next day I had an interview with the ladies I had wrote to and one that saw my picture and was interested in me. It amazed me that I thought I knew which one I would pick before the interview but after I was unsure. I was uncertain so Svetlana arranged a date with each of the two and after one date I was sure who was right for me. During the next week I spent all my time walking in the park, dining at romantic restaurants, and sightseeing in the most beautiful and romantic cities I’ve ever been in with the woman I love.

Everyone in the town seemed so friendly even though I didn’t speak the language, it was incredible. I’m not sure how or when it happened but somewhere amidst the candle-lit dinners, strolls in the park or just riding in the car, we fell in love. Before this trip I was very skeptical and I would have bet you any amount that this would not happen to me but I was wrong. The town is so beautiful and romantic. The translator seemed to be tuned into my every thought and always seemed to know when to be there and when to “get lost”.  He always had ideas on where to go and things to do when asked. The two managers, Svetlana and Vadym, were a tremendous help with everything including choosing the right girl, arraigning dates, meeting the ladies family, looking for flowers and getting a ring. Everyone involved really went the extra mile to ensure everything was perfect and this was the best part... they were genuinely interested in both our happiness. I could never thank everyone in the agency enough for helping me achieve a love and friendship I never thought possible. By the time you read this Marianna and Cecil will have filed my paperwork with the INS (which was included) and within a few months Oksana, the woman I fell in love with, will be with me forever.

I would say “GOOD LUCK” but with this agency, “ LUCK IS NOT A FACTOR”.

Michael

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