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Hello, It is now August 2001,
My name is Jerry I am the lucky guy in the picture getting married to the beautiful lady I met in an online personals. Her name is Lena and she lived in Tallinn Estonia. I met her online a year ago when I was 54. She was a divorced lady, 39 years old with two sons, one 14 and the other 20. At first I was a bit cautious as I had talked to a few other ladies and the ones that really looked attractive to me always just wanted a guy that had big bucks and lots of cars and a fancy house, well I do not have any of these. I live in an old farmhouse in Montana (built in 1896, and had many kids raised in it). My house needs tons of work and I am a working guy not a rich one. After I told her about me and sent a few pictures of my bad looking house and she still was very interested as she didn't care about things, just what I was inside. Well, this was a real turn for me from the women I had been accustomed to from the USA. We talked via email and then after a month or so we talked on the telephone. She didn't know much English at this time, maybe ten words or so but that didn't bother us at all, we always seemed to be able to communicate. After about three months I wanted very much to meet this lady and maybe try to make her my wife if we got on as well in person as we did via mail and phone. In October 2000, I got out my visa and booked a ticket to Tallinn and I went there and spent two weeks with my Lena. I can tell you I was a bit nervous wondering if this so beautiful lady would really be waiting for me when I got off the plane. I was so pleasantly surprised when I got through customs and walked out into the terminal Lena came running up to me and wrapped her arms around me and I kissed her there for the very first time, it was very wonderful. Things went from there better and better as time went on. It was only a few days when I asked her to marry me and she accepted. We went out the next day and bought some rings. When I got home I contacted a lawyer (not an expensive one), and got my petition filed for the fiancee visa, that was about the first of November 2000. She was supposed to come here on April 25 2001, however one of our boys has a very common name and they had to run a check on him as someone in the world has the same name as he and that person had a problem, so Lena arrived here on may 22, 2001 and we got married July 2, 2001. I want to tell you about the mind set of these Russian ladies, they are so refreshing. Lena wants only to make me happy, the husband is the center of the family for these ladies and he is their rock, if he is a man that will love and honor and respect them. They also prefer a man that is 10 to 20 years older then themselves and if you have a bit of a tummy, that is an added bonus for them as they think a tummy is very sexy. They are not interested in buying lots of clothes or trying to have the newest of things, they only want a man that will care for them and work with them to have a good loving happy life. they are not afraid of work, one of Lena's girl friends that is still in Tallinn works 6 jobs to support herself and her two boy's. I was married before and I can tell you things are so much different now. When I come home Lena is here waiting for me with kisses and my dinner ready. She never seems to have a negative thing to say to me. She knows our house needs tons of work but only says that as we have money we will fix it and over the years we will build not only our house but a deeper love working on it together. I will tell you that in order to apply for a fiancee visa the two of you must meet in person, and the fact is that the U.S. INS will not allow a lady from Estonia to come here on a visitor visa, Lena and I tried that. it is almost essential that the American citizen will have to go to Tallinn to meet the lady, but that is not a bad thing. Tallinn is a very old city. the old part of Tallinn is over 1200 years old and still is as it was built. Another thing is that our money is very strong there, our dollar is equal to 18 of their Kroons. This makes it very nice for us as we can go their and have a wonderful time and not spend a fortune. When I was there we went out to dinner with another couple to a place called the galaxy, it is a restaurant that is up on a TV tower about 400 feet above the ground. We had the best steaks and wine and deserts and danced to live music. I paid for the entire evening for everyone and it cost me about 30 dollars including the tip. In closing this message I will only say if you are a man that likes family values and an old fashion woman, you would be very lucky to find a lady from Estonia, she will not only be a treasure to you but you will be a treasure to her as well.
Yours Jerry
UPDATE, It is now December 2001, I am now 56 and we are still married and doing better and better every day. Our love for each other grows with each passing day. I do not mean there is nothing for each of us to adjust to, but these adjustments come easily when you have someone who shows so much care for you. I would hope many of the men in the USA could experience the total love and acceptance i feel from this lady. Yes there are some things you have to do to make these ladies happy- they want and deserve respect, they want a clean house, you are expected to take your shoes off at the door and wear house slippers as they get very distressed if you get the floor dirty. They also like to have extra slippers for guests so they also will not wear shoes in the house. Most of us here in America have long forgotten the customs of our forefathers before they came here, as when our ancestors lived in log cabins with dirt floors we stopped this custom. But I find it very pleasant to know the place I live in is kept this clean. Well this is all for now-bye bye Jerry
UPDATE, It is now January 2002 and we had our INS interview. We took about ten pounds of paperwork with us and they only looked at maybe 6 pages. Everything went well and we are finished with the INS for a couple years, and they say the next step in two years will probably be done by post. We are still doing great and building a stronger relationship everyday. bye bye for now Jerry
UPDATE, It is now March 2003. Lena now has her drivers license. We are doing fine and still our love grows day by day. Our son Artjom is now a freshman in high school. He is getting into track and joining the Civil Air Patrol. Our other son Dmitri moved to Ohio to be with an old friend of his that came to the USA, and he is doing ok also. The website is growing and I spend many hours working on it. One of Lena's friends from Estonia, Albina met a man here on the net, he is from North Dakota and they got married in Estonia in December and she will be coming around Easter. They used the Direct Councilor Filing method instead of the fiancée visa method. These are both discussed on the visa page. Lena is very anxious to see her friend again. Lena has many plans for the spring as she wants to plant flowers and such in the yard. She is a very busy lady and seems to work night and day. Well, bye bye for now Jerry