#OkCupidStory roundup: Couples who went the distance
Paying homage to OkCupid couples who knew it was worth the wait
At OkCupid, we often receive delightful stories from couples who were living in the same town, possibly on the same street (and might have even gone to the same high school) — but never crossed paths — until they met each other on OkCupid.
While we’re thrilled for all of those same-town OkCupid romances, we wanted to pay homage to the couples whose stories don’t start out so conveniently: the long distance lovers. Through the conversations, FaceTiming, flights and moves, these OkCupid couples knew it was all worth the wait. Here are their stories.
Myra & Michael
“Our Match % was around 98% or something crazy high, so naturally I liked a lot of his answers to the questions, and we put value on similar things. He was open-minded, loved to try new things, could view things from different perspectives, was a huge foodie (like me), loved to cook, was spiritually inclined, and really wanted to travel.
We connected instantly, and for the first 5 months just became good friends. We were constantly texting / talking, sharing our day, and our bad dates. After 6 months, he flew from Columbus to Cambridge to hang out for a long weekend and we really hit it off.
From then on it was back and forth — our jobs allowed us to spend a couple months at a time with each other. He eventually met the sister in Chicago, Skyped a lot with the parents in Pakistan, got the stamp of approval as a boyfriend and the rest is history.
We got married in August 2016, surrounded by close family and friends. We had a fusion of Pakistani and Western wedding traditions; it was a beautiful mix. Thank you, OkCupid, for bringing us and our two very different cultures together.”
Emily & Tamara
“By some chance of fate, we signed up for OkCupid in the summer of 2014. I was in Canada and she was in Vienna. It was hopeless for both of us…I was about to give up until one morning, I saw Tamara’s profile. After checking her out, my colleague convinced me to write her a message. 7,500 kms away, but nonetheless, I sent it. ‘Vienna? I’ll be right there.’ We hit it off instantly.
We talked all day and all night — FaceTime, emails, handwritten letters, flowers, everything. This went on for six months until Tamara booked a flight to Canada. From the moment we saw each other in person for the first time at the airport, we both knew that this was real love. I had never been to Europe before. I traveled to Vienna for the first time in spring 2015 and fell in love a second time, with the city. The architecture, the history, the culture. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before in my small town upbringing.
Tamara and I traveled back and forth for another year. Something had to give. After my second trip to Vienna, I decided to apply for my dual citizenship with the UK — it was approved! Tamara visited me in Canada in January 2016 and we decided it was time to make it official. We got married in my apartment on a sunny morning in the company of two witnesses. In April I packed my life into two suitcases and made a one way trip across the ocean.
Our relationship has never been easy, now the challenges that come with learning a new language and starting a new life. But we get to fall asleep beside each other every night. We believe in each other and that is a love strong enough to conquer any distance.”
Victoria & Jamie
“It all started with an email from a stranger. In July 2015, I met Jamie via an online dating site. We had both been single for quite a while and had recently created profiles on OkCupid.com. Not knowing of the other’s existence, we had both set our search filters to include people located anywhere in the world, and then sorted them by compatibility percentage, hoping to find someone who we would have a meaningful connection with, even if they were located on the other side of the world.
And, that is exactly what we got.
It started with an email from him, which then quickly snowballed into lots of very long emails back and forth between the two of us. We became instant best friends and could not believe how much we had in common. I knew early on that I wanted to meet him in person, to see if what we had was real. After a few months of talking to Jamie, I got my first passport and booked a flight to Dublin, arriving a few days after that Christmas.
I was so nervous for the flight, as I had never had a long-haul flight before, nor had I flown over the ocean (a long-time fear of mine). And, of course, I was extremely nervous to meet Jamie in person. It has been five and a half months of getting to know each other via OkCupid, then WeChat, and finally FaceTime, and now it was time for Jamie and I to meet in person.
I got my luggage and told my legs to stop shaking and start walking. My heart was pounding out of my chest and I thought I was surely going to pass out. As I walked through the Arrivals doors, there he was, smiling at me, and everything changed. All of my nervousness changed to excitement. It was at that moment that I knew that what we had was very real.
We spent the next 8 days enjoying each other’s company without having a screen between us. Jamie showed me around Dublin, as well as his hometown of Dundalk. The first night, he took me for a pint at The Bartender and I got to meet some of his closest friends. That week, I met his entire family and we all had an amazing dinner at Eno’s. On New Year’s Eve, we crowded into St. Stephen’s Square and kissed at midnight, surrounded by locals, as well as tourists from all over Europe. It was as easy for me to fall in love with Ireland as it was for me to fall in love with Jamie.
I was able to visit Ireland, for the second time, this past November. This time, there were no nerves about coming over to visit Jamie, only excitement. And, when I walked through those Arrival doors, he was waiting for me as usual, only this time he was on one knee, with a ring.”
Brett & Sonya
“My fiancé Brett likes to tell the story like this: after being on the road with his band in Texas after a really bad breakup, he decided he was done dating unless he found “the one.” After having prayed to finally meet the right girl and stop making lousy choices, I (all the way from California) happened to like his profile when I saw it in DoubleTake, and he got the notification the next day.
After two weeks of talking on the phone, his band finally made it to California and we met up at Cold Stone for our first date…and he said he knew the minute he first saw me that I was ‘the one.’ He proposed 9 months later from the day he first messaged me on OkCupid (February 20th, 2016).”
Have an OkCupid story of your own to share with us? Write to us at press@okcupid.com, or post a picture of you two with the hashtag #OkCupidStory on Instagram.
Don’t have an OkCupid story yet? It all starts here.
