We're getting married!

Our story began with a Fujifilm camera, a handkerchief, a sunset photo, and a plane ticket. We first met in Vietnam, during a trip I wasn't even supposed to take, but fate clearly had other plans. We met through a mutual friend, but Hanh took 3 business days to respond >:] and was 30 minutes late to our first date. [Matthew's POV: I was sitting there, taking my last sip of a flat white that had already lost its warmth, ready to walk away, when a little voice in my head said, Stay a bit longer. It turned out to be the best decision of my life.] She arrived fashionably late, with a bright smile and a Fujifilm camera in hand, sparking conversation about her travels to Korea and the photos that told her story. What began as a simple coffee date flowed into a ‘second-half’ date that same evening, when we went to see the Saigon skyline together. I was sweating the whole time, whether from nerves or the heat, but Hanh kept gently wiping it away... [Matthew's POV: I think I'm in love. Such a shame our first date is on my last day in this country! Hanh's POV: That was a nice moment, glad to have met you, but I'm sure nothing will come from this..] And yet the messages never stopped. Photos, selfies, jokes, flirting, and late-night conversations kept the spark. It all started with a sunset photo taken while driving, because at that moment, she was the only person I wanted to share it with. Our connection grew across DMS, messages, FaceTime, and shared glimpses of each other's lives online. Soon our story expanded to new adventures; our second date wasn’t dinner or movies, it was a spontaneous trip together to Korea, because Hanh wanted to see autumn there. That trip led to another, and another, until we realized we had something undeniably real. Long distance was the hardest part, saying good morning when the other’s sun was setting, and falling in love through brief in-person meetings, video calls, texts, hand written-letters, and care packages. But despite that, we proved that if our love can make it through the other side of the earth, it can survive anything. Somewhere between the quiet charm of an artsy cafe, the Saigon skyline, and the ginkgo-leaf-covered streets of Seoul, we wrote our story together. Matthew & Hanh [written by Matthew]