Twelve years ago, my Dad decided to take my brother and I on a trip to Portugal; he even dipped into my College savings account to help fund the trip! I was 15 years old at the time, and absolutely dreaded being there and wanted to go home. My cousin Ana decided to introduce me to a family that was on vacation there from London, England. There were a few kids close to my age and thought we might get along…but there was one boy in particular that caught my eye…Paulo. We instantly became attracted to each other, but he was the youngest of the group and extremely shy. We all ended up hanging out with each other towards the end of my trip…we had late night pool parties, went to an abandoned ‘haunted’ house and the most memorable adventure of all…climbing the castle and wall of Obidos.

Our trips came to an end, and I went home to Toronto and he to London. When I got home I decided to write to him a letter…and even sealed it with a kiss. (Literally…how embarrassing!) We chatted for a couple months, and eventually… lost touch. 12 years later, Paulo went to his parent’s house for a wedding and was looking through his drawers in his old room. He found the letter that I had written him, and wondered what I had been up to. He took the letter with him, and decided to look me up on Facebook a couple weeks later.

I was so shocked and excited to hear from him. We chatted for a couple weeks, and I decided to invite him to Toronto for a visit. It was like we had never lost touch and picked up right where we left off. Our connection is stronger than ever, and I’ve never been more in love. We are now engaged and planning our April 10th, 2013 wedding. I guess my Dad dipping into my College savings was worth it after all!