They Pretended To Be a Couple and Then Actually Fell in Love
Yahoo Travel profiles readers who have come back from a trip with the best souvenir ever — true love. Got your own story? Email us at traveleditors@yahoo.com.
The couple loves to travel together. (Photo: Mary Stafford)
Who: Michael & Mary Stafford
Where we met: Destin, Fla.
When: Sept. 6, 2009
Relationship status: Married seven months
(As told by Mary)
Before I headed down to Destin, Fla., for a friend’s wedding, I was actually “talking” to another guy. It wasn’t serious or anything, but I definitely wasn’t looking to meet anyone. I guess you can’t really predict where lightning will strike.
I was up superearly on Sept. 6 to catch the only flight out of Wichita, Kan., to Destin, and I arrived just as the ceremony was beginning. That’s when a handsome stranger approached me. He introduced himself as Michael and asked if he could sit next to me.
Immediately following the ceremony, the videographer approached us, asked if we were a couple, and suggested that we leave a message for the bride and groom. Michael and I gave each other a sly glance and responded that yes we were a couple, and yes we would like to leave a message. We then proceeded to concoct a story for the video about how the bride and groom had met at our wedding seven years prior, and that they would someday be naming their children after us. The message made it onto our friends’ wedding video and thus captured our first conversation.
Related: #RealTravel: ‘I Met My Boyfriend on an Airplane’
Michael and Mary cutting a rug the night they met in Destin, Fla. (Photo: Mary Stafford)
We stayed up all night talking and hanging out on the beach, and Michael’s quick wit is what initially attracted me to him. He actually tried to kiss me in the pool that night, but in his words, “I went 90, and she did not go 10.” Honestly, I liked him, but I was more preoccupied with the guy I was actually seeing than anything romantic that night with Michael. Still, Michael says that we had “instant chemistry” at the wedding, and I would agree that I felt like I had known him forever.
Our flights left at 6 a.m. the following morning, and when we parted ways at the airport (Michael to Omaha and me to Wichita), I didn’t think I would ever see him again. Much to my surprise, Michael got my phone number from our mutual friend and began texting me. We talked for four months before I made my first trip to visit him in Omaha. After that initial visit, we never went longer than three weeks apart. Three years later, after driving thousands of miles back and forth between Wichita and Omaha and spending countless hours on the phone, I left my life in Wichita to join Michael in Omaha.
Related: #RealTravel: I Met My Fiancé on Study Abroad in Spain
Michael proposed to Mary in her hometown of Wichita. (Photo: Mary Stafford)
Michael proposed over Thanksgiving 2012 in my hometown. We were driving around with two friends when he suggested we stop and take a photo in front a church. Before I knew what was happening, he knelt down on one knee and said, “I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?” I, of course, said yes!
After meeting at a wedding, Michael and Mary were married in 2014. (Photo: Mary Stafford)
We were married in May 2014, and our friends are thrilled (I think!) that Michael and I ended up together. And in a fun turn of events, the bride from the wedding where I met Michael was actually a bridesmaid in mine!
There are so many reasons I adore my husband, but I especially love his sense of adventure. We love experiencing new things together and developing memories along the way.
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