My great friend Faith from Florida, USA and I have known each other online for 10 years. In these 10 years, we exchanged emails, comments and likes on Facebook, we texted each other and even talked briefly on the phone. Faith has always been for me the big sister I never had. Despite her own personal problems, she has always been there for me, supporting me online or offline in everything I do. She was the first to leave a comment on my TypePad blog, she was also the first to stay online for me in hard times, she was the first who would text me just to see if I was OK. She didn't hesitate to give me advice on teaching ESL when I asked for it. Thanks to her, I greatly improved my teaching as an ESL teacher. Faith has a heart of gold. She always has a good word for everyone even for people who have hurt her. She is generous and kind and so thoughtful and considerate. Meeting Faith was a dream come true.
About a month ago, I received an email from her saying that she'd be travelling to Europe and would like to meet me. She said she could spend a weekend in Cyprus. She knew I work 10-12 hours daily and kindly asked me when it would me more convenient for me to meet her. I jumped for joy! Actually, I was on cloud 9.
We arranged to meet in my hometown , Nicosia, on March 15 2014 at 12:00 pm. On my way there from Larnaca, I got stuck in the traffic, had trouble finding a parking place in Nicosia and was 10 minutes late. Faith was waiting for me. I knew her at once from a distance and I waved. She waved back. It was as if time had stopped at that moment. It was a dream come true. Seconds later, we were in each other's arms and felt blessed to have met in person for the first time. We chatted over coffee - this time ...offline! - and I really felt I had met a good old friend!
We had lunch at Zakos Restaurant in Larnaca. Thank God, Saturday was a bright, sunny day! So, we sat outside. I wanted to introduce Faith to our local cuisine - more specifically to our fish meze. Faith proved to be quite adventurous. She actually loved the fish with the head! Well, she didn't eat the head, but I know she loved the fish!
We talked and talked over lunch and we actually lost all sense of time. At 4:00 pm I dropped Faith off at the hotel , I went back home for a while and in the evening we met again at the hotel and I introduced her to my husband and we had a great dinner.
On Sunday, it was my pleasure to show Faith around. We visited Saint Lazaros Church, Finicoudes Promenade and the Medieval Castle. I wish she could stay longer - impossible to visit everything in less than a day. I wanted us to have lunch at Lush - my favourite restaurant in Larnaca. Driving back to Nicosia, soon after lunch, I tried hard to hide my tears. Alkis promised me that when he retires for good in two years from now, we will fly to Florida, USA and meet our great friend Faith again. I keep my fingers crossed! He's a workaholic!!!
It was such a great pleasure to meet Faith. She is one in a million!
I am happy for you Anastasia & for your old friend! I wish you meet each other again while you are both in good health and life!
Posted by: Hisham AbdelFadil | March 18, 2014 at 04:24 PM
I have met Faith online on Typepad and read some of her posts which I really liked very much. She must be a wonderful person and I'm so glad for your friendship. It sounds like you had a great time together.
Posted by: Stefania | March 18, 2014 at 07:03 PM
Oh this is a great story Anastasia. I only ever met a few people that I'd met online and was never disappointed.
Posted by: Agnes | March 19, 2014 at 04:47 PM
It's really wonderful to meet a friend whom you've never met in person yet but you developed great friendship online....i'm happy for you that you finally had met each other for real...nice story.
Posted by: A Twitter User | March 29, 2014 at 04:25 PM
Oh Dear Anastasia, the joy of our meeting was indeed mine. I have wanted to sit and talk to you for so long but it never seemed to happen. When Mesut said I should fly to Cyprus because we were in Izmir and it was so close, I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. My only disappointment (and his also) was that you did not get to meet him. He so wanted to be able to meet my wonderful friend who has always been "there for me". I loved our short time together and it seemed as if we have known each other all our lives. Next time, hopefully, he will be able to get a visa to Southern Cyprus and we can all enjoy each other's company. I love you so much and I too was masking tears. Thank you again for being so kind and generous. Alkis was a dream. I felt I knew him as well and the love I saw going between you both, gave me hope also for my relationship with Mesut. Thank you so much. I have such glorious memories but want to make many more. xoxoxo
Posted by: FaithB | March 29, 2014 at 11:55 PM
Faith, it was great meeting you in person and I wish I'd met Mesut as well. He must be a wonderful man and now I know how much he loves you. I've only got one regret. I wish I had taken a photo of you at my home as we were drinking tea together. But I was carried away by our conversation and completely forgot to take that photo. I miss you so much!
Posted by: Anastasia | March 30, 2014 at 08:57 PM
We had great conversations about many topics. I miss you too. I wish I could drink Cinnamon/clove tea with you and chat, and eat fish and walk the beaches with you. xoxoxo
Posted by: Faith Barndt | March 30, 2014 at 09:53 PM