Galina and Jamie

I will tell you a story of my love, a fairy tale story as it might seem, but still it did happen in real life and moreover it happened to me. Romantic as I have always been a hopeless romantic I thought I never expected my dream to come true, my dream of a princess waiting for me to kiss her and restore her to life full of love and happiness. Wonders are irreconcilable with real life... or so I thought. Floating in the ocean of mundane reality, feeling like a shipwrecked, I suddenly saw land a small island of hope and magic, the Anastasia agency. This is where I found my salvation and embodiment of my romantic dreams. Thanks to Anastasia, I realized that reality can exceed the most daring expectations.

I first met my future love companion Galyna Martynenko on the internet, Anastasia agency site, after chatting for a while we decided to exchange e-mail addresses and from about the 20th April 2005 we started writing letters about each other, we wrote to each other almost every day.

At the start I never really thought about corresponding to anyone from another country, but from the letters Galyna wrote to me, I thought how much of a fun and interesting person she was to write to and how much we have in common.

After 2 months we started to have feelings for each other and we decided to meet, I organized a plane ticket and visa to fly to the Ukraine to arrive on the 5th of July 2005 to get to know each other more and maybe a possibility to go further in our friendship.

By that time we had exchanged several photos; my first thought about Galyna was WOW! Very beautiful women. Galyna felt the same about my photos to.

After booking the flight to Ukraine we were both very excited and a little nervous. I organized with my work to take annual leave but because at the time I was fairly busy, I could only spend 2 weeks with Galyna. I work in the mining industry as a Drill Operator for Roche Mining at Century Zinc Mine located in north east Queensland. Before my arrival we thought about how we would talk to each other because at that time Galyna only knew a little English, so we decided to hire a translator, a friend of Galynas, Natasha agreed to help us.

The 5th of July finally came around , I arrived in Kiev, after going through customs in the airport .Galyna saw me first ,she called my name and then I saw her ,it just an overwhelming feeling of finally meeting ,we held each other and we kissed, I was very surprised how much warmth she showed me at that moment, it was unforgettable ,she was everything in her photos, I felt the same way about her , I was a little nervous and at the same time comfortable because from our letters we shared personal feelings and what we both went through in past relationships. We spent the next two days in Kiev talking through the translator and sightseeing, this is when our friendship turned into more, over the next two weeks we fell in love with each other and we spoke about long term relationship. We also spoke about finding time to be together and being apart for some months at a time, we knew it would sometimes be difficult but the bond we had was strong.

After Kiev we booked a flight to Mariupol where Galyna lives to meet her mother and daughter, Galyna wrote to me in her letters about her daughter Anastasia, from her previous relationship as I wrote to her about the three sons I have from my ex-love companion.

After we had finished with the translator we carried three English/Russian dictionaries around with us, Galyna was learning more and more English every day so it was not a problem to talk.

For the remaining time I spent with Galyna in Ukraine I got to know her daughter, we get along very well and because she never really knew her real father she thinks I am her father figure in a way, and her mother a little more also I met some of Galyna's close friends and having dinner parties or barbeques and thought they were all very nice people.

On the 20th of July I had to depart Ukraine to fly home to Australia, by this stage the love we had for each other was very strong and we both found it very difficult that I had to leave, I really wanted to spend my life with Galyna as she did to, so I asked her be together me, she said yes. The love I share with Galyna is somehow different from my past relationships, it feels greater, I like everything she does and says, I like how she cares about everything.

The love she shows me, the loving warm feeling I get when we are together, to me I am very much in love with her, it feels like heaven. We spent the next five months apart trying to work out whether I had time and money to go back to the Ukraine or to apply for a tourist visa for Galyna. We decided on the tourist visa as it would be good for her to spend time in Australia to see if she liked it here and also to meet my family and friends. Our love for each other did not change, it just got stronger. Over that period we were applying for the tourist visa we still kept writing letters and also spoke over the phone almost everyday. I sent money to her through western union to help her and her daughter Anastasia. Galyna received her tourist visa for three months and she arrived in Australia on the 16th of December 2005. When she received the tourist visa she was so excited she sent me a text message to call her, she could not believe she received it because of hearing how difficult it is to receive any visa to Australia. I was very excited too, and my family was happy for us, and that they would meet Galyna, from what I told them about our plans be together and hopefully receive the spouse visa later on if everything well. I met Galyna at the Sydney international airport on the 16th of December, it was like we met for the first time again but more, then I thought : god I love this women". I had flights booked for us to fly to Townsville where I introduced Galyna to some of my friends. Then we drove to Charters Towers where I live with my parents, they met Galyna , they like her very much and treat her like their daughter in-law. We got together on the 27th of January 2006 in Townsville, my friend David and his partner Helene were witnesses to our wedding as showing on the 888 stat dec

For the remaining time we spent together as a married couple we done sightseeing, meeting up with friends, just spending quality time together. On the 12th of March Galyna had to return home to Ukraine, I think it's very difficult to be apart from Galyna, not knowing how long for, Galyna feels the same to, and she sometimes gets upset. On the 1st of June I have planned a trip to see Galyna, I plan to be with her for about one month this time. Unfortunately I am not able due to my work to accompany Galyna in the Embassy to support her in the interview. But we both are waiting impatiently for the moment when we come back to Australia as one family - Galyna, Anastasia and me. I've never believed that one could find his/her soul mate on the other part of the world - but I did! Now I can't imagine my life without Galyna; her eyes, her smile her lovely voice. We've met each other like in a dream and now all we want is to be together forever and always, build our would, grow up our children and be happy.

Sincerely yours,

Jamie E. Andrews