How a shoebox led a Pinay to her future hubby
In 2000, Joana, then a young girl living in Quezon City,
received a gift shoebox from North Carolina containing, among others, a photo
of a little American boy in a cowboy shirt. Fourteen years later, she married
that boy. Sometime in 2011, a man from Midvale, Idaho, checked his Facebook
account and wondered at the friend request he got from “a random girl in the
Philippines.” That was of course Joana, his would-be wife. An outdoor wedding
for Tyler and Joana Wolfe. Photo from the couple's Facebook account “I still
wanted to thank the person who gave me the box that had meant so much to me,”
said Joana in an article on Good News Network, on why she decided to search for
Tyrel Wolfe, the young boy who sent her the shoebox in 2000, through social
media. The shoebox was part of Operation Christmas Child by the Christian
organization Samaritan's Purse. According to the group's website, each box
contains “a variety of gifts that will bring delight to a child” such as toys,
school supplies and non-liquid hygiene items. Joana wrote Tyrel a letter
thanking him for the shoebox, which she received at a vacation bible school,
but the letter never reached the young boy. After reconnecting on Facebook, the
two began an extraordinary friendship – bonding over music (they both sing and
play instruments) and love for a quiet life in the country. Letters and
pictures were also sent, and Facebook was checked regularly for messages. They
communicated as if there was no 15-hour time difference between them. Then, in
June last year, they finally met in person. “Once I saw his face, an amazing
feeling came over me,” said Joana on meeting Tyrell, who made the meeting
possible by flying to the Philippines.
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“I was so happy I cried.” A first-time
visitor to the Philippines, Tyrell stayed for 10 days, during which he got to
know Joana's home environs and even met her father. It was during this visit
that Tyrell decided that Joana was “the one.” Back in the States, Tyrell worked
harder to save enough money to go back to the Philippines, the Good News
Network article said. During his second Philippine visit, he stayed for a full
month. It was during this visit that he formally asked Joana's dad for
permission to marry his daughter, the “random girl in the Philippines” who
received his shoebox gift more than a decade ago. The father gave his blessing,
and last Oct. 5, after obtaining a fiancée visa for Joana, the two tied the
knot in an outdoor ceremony on Tyrell’s parents’ 400-acre cattle ranch. More
from: they were more there were others like that any
screed but again it was just the stage.
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