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I
remember seeing a guy working at the Framon Beach Rental
Kiosk. He really caught my eye and although I
only admired him from afar, I went to Ghadira every
day just to get a glimpse of him! Nothing came
of it of course, just a summer crush, and I returned
home to Canada.
In
1997, I vacationed in Malta again and when I went to
swim at Ghadira Bay, to my surprise, I saw the same
guy working at the same kiosk – this time older and
much more handsome! My heart skipped a few beats
when I saw him, I can’t explain the feeling, but I was
so drawn to him.
I
guess he caught me looking at him, because we exchanged
eye contact, and to ‘break the ice’ so to speak, he
followed me into the water, and jokingly asked me if
I could teach him to swim. His name was James.
For the remainder of my vacation, I visited Ghadira
every day to spend time with him and would go to Paceville
just to bump into him. I was developing strong
feelings for a guy that lived thousands of miles away
from me, who probably wasn’t as crazy about me as I
was about him.
There
was just something about him that I liked, and my thoughts
of going home to Canada made me so sad.
There
was one ‘obstacle’ or another that kept trying to keep
us apart and living on opposite sides of the world was
definitely the biggest! Somehow, I just had to realize
this was just a summer love regardless of what I was
feeling inside. Who knew, maybe our timing just
wasn’t ‘right’.
However,
I think my heart was trying to tell me something after
all. You see, in May 2001, I remember telling a friend
I was planning to vacation in Malta again, and I told
her about James. I jokingly said that maybe I would
see him ‘again’, however this time, maybe with a wife
and kids too!
Well,
believe in destiny everyone. When I came back to Malta
on 17th May 2001, I was sitting onboard Air Malta in
my seat reading a magazine. I noticed an Air Malta steward
leaning in between the aisle a few rows before mine.
I only saw his back but he sparked my interest, and
I had the shock of my life when he turned around. It
was James. My heart felt like it had stopped beating
as I couldn’t believe my eyes. My first thought
was that God had gotten me. What I mean is that I had
always been aware of my surroundings, and although I
wasn’t a believer in love at first sight, this was crazy.
All these chance encounters! First twice on the beach,
and now on the plane!
Something
was happening to my heart every time I saw James. It
had been four years since we had seen each other last,
and when we finally made eye contact on the plane, he
kept looking at me to see if it was me, as we had both
changed a lot. He finally had the courage to ask
me “Are you from Canada? Do you know me?” I couldn’t
believe it. After talking and catching up on the flight,
he gave me his phone number. Our ‘real’ first
date was 21st May, 2001, and was the beginning of something
beautiful.
To
make this long story short, six weeks later upon returning
to Canada, I packed my bags and moved to Malta. It was
a pretty sudden decision to make, but it was meant to
be. I’ll be honest in saying these past four years haven’t
been the easiest. Making the transition to Malta
involved running back and forth to Canada several times
and eventually took a toll on me, but in the end, I
managed to finally settle. I just knew I had to be with
James.
On
21st May 2005, James and I were married. It was
the 4th anniversary of our first date together, and
it was eleven years in the making. I want to thank
God and all those in my life for everything. I
guess our timing was ‘finally’ right!
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