-Alex

By way of this letter, I hope to convey how important Nicole is to me, and how much I look forward to having her here with me in the USA.  

Nicole and I first met after our sisters exchanged phone numbers for us. They met at church in Jacksonville Florida. I was skeptical about talking with a woman a half world away, and not too excited to make a “pen-pal” of sorts. But for some reason I decided to contact Nicole via WhatsApp one day, and now I cannot believe I almost never talked to Nicole. 

Soon, Nicole and I started talking over WhatsApp video every day. After a couple of weeks of talking we decided to try and put together a trip so that the two of us could meet in person in Istanbul Turkey. The more we talked, the more I fell in love with Nicole and we began to discuss what we want for the future. 

Our time together was not like normal dating, and we like to think that our relationship will always be unique compared to stereotypical ideas of relationships. While she works in the mornings before I’m at work, I'll often sit and watch her work on her client’s nails at the salon she owns in Beirut as I get dressed and prepare my breakfast. She will stay on video with me while I work at my computer. We stay on video call together while shopping at the store, ordering lunch, and hanging out with family and friends. In a short time, we were able to see deeply into each other's private lives. Additionally, we committed to each other that there was no pressure to impress one another or try to create a false image, we would be completely open and honest with each other at all times. We did share our hearts openly and honestly and through this openness, we have become so close that I feel Nicole is more than my wife. She is my best friend who knows everything about me. 

My favorite time to spend with Nicole is on the weekends. We are able to spend hours upon hours talking to each other with few distractions. Unlike most couples, we don't have any distractions like waiters at dinner or having to sit quietly in a movie theater. For the most part we just talk completely openly and share our hearts to each other.  We often plan “dates” on the weekend and have made dinners together from the same recipe, play games and sync Netflix movies together. I feel like I now know Nicole better than I know my brother and sisters. We spent every day together on WhatsApp.

After several weeks of talking every day on video, the two of us realized that we shared incredibly similar goals, passions and personalities. I began to feel so connected to Nicole. She could see my emotions within seconds of opening up the grainy video on WhatsApp. She was able to comfort my soul when I was stressed and I tried to provide the same to her when she needed it.  This led us to discussing the possibility of actually marrying in Turkey, and I proposed to her via our favorite iphone app WhatsApp.  She even made a screen capture video of me proposing to her with a ring my mother offered me when she learned I was going to ask for Nicole’s hand in marriage. In hindsight, I wish I had put a shirt on when I proposed from my bedroom over video chat. A couple of weeks later I went to Jacksonville and sat with Nicole’s sister Handady, her brother in law Sayeed, their kids, and my parents while we did a video call with Nicole, her parents and her brother Nicolas. On this call, I formally introduced our parents, and asked permission from Nicole’s father Salim to marry his Daughter Nicole. This was important to both of us that our parents be involved in every way possible. 

Nicole and I met in Turkey and made sure Nicole's parents could attend our wedding on 11.11.2023. Again It was very important to me that her parents be there to attend our wedding even though mine could not attend in Turkey; and it was important that I was able to spend time with her parents.

Turkey was more amazing than I could have imagined. I was so in love before I landed, but from the moment Nicole surprised me at the Airport in Istanbul, I knew I could not live without Nicole. I was in a new country for the first time and everything was foreign to me, but all I can remember from the moment I landed is how beautiful her smile was and how enchanting her eyes were. The details of the landscape as the van drove us from the airport are all a blur. Nicole and I embraced each other as soon as she surprised me, and I don't think I let go of her until we arrived at the hotel. Everything about the trip to Turkey was amazing, and we even decided to spend two days in Lebanon to meet more of her family, but the most amazing thing about the trip was my time with Nicole. I barely remember the Hagia Sophia, the mosques, the flights, the cave hotel in Cappadocia, the dinners, but I vividly remember every beautiful moment I spent with Nicole.

Leaving Lebanon and returning to the USA (via Turkey) on the 20th of November 2023 was incredibly tough. I knew it was the last time I would hold Nicole for a while and we would be spending our time together on WhatsApp again. But when I arrived back, I felt so comforted knowing that soon she and I would be together again. We had already discussed future trips together, but what I most look forward to is the two of us sharing a home and starting our own version of what a future looks like together.

We continue to talk on WhatsApp, Facetime and text everyday. She has met my friends, relatives, and spends time with me talking to my parents and siblings on video chat. Even while working we manage to rack up hours on the phone together daily. I usually am on video with her as she gets ready for bed and eventually falls asleep. She helps me pick what to eat for an early dinner when I get home from my office. She calls me around 12:00 or 1:00 am cst when she wakes up in Lebanon to tell me “good morning”. I sleep better after that brief morning call knowing she is well. The hardest part of the relationship right now is being apart. We have managed well, but I miss her so much when she falls asleep and I spend the rest of my evening alone. When she is asleep, I send her messages about my evening: trips to the store, friends I’m meeting for dinner, or perhaps a movie I’m going to see. In a small way it keeps her with me as I know she reads the messages when she wakes up. 

As a previously single man living alone, I am constantly thinking about things in my house to improve and change before Nicole arrives. We have looked at furniture online together, we have made plans to arrange closets (I need to make lots of room for my beautiful wife’s wardrobe), we have talked about cars. We don't know when we'll be together in our home, but we know it won't be soon enough. Until then, we plan to meet as often as possible wherever Nicole’s Lebanese passport will allow. We remind each other that we have the rest of our lives together to make up for this time we must spend apart. 

I hope and pray that this process moves swiftly and that Nicole can be with me in the USA quickly.  We both miss each other dearly, and I worry about my wife and her safety while she is apart from me in Lebanon. She is the woman I have waited my whole life for. Whatever the process looks like to bring her here, please understand that I struggle to put into words how much I love Nicole, and I hope I have been able to provide a glimpse into my heart and my deep love for her.