An unexpected request

Excerpt from World Lifestyle by Asher Weber on October 31, 2018 at www.icepop.com
Edited by me in blue ink 

It was a normal day for 18-year-old Tyrel Wolfe. He was going about his normal daily routine when he received a rather odd friend request from a woman on Facebook. For anyone who uses Facebook, it is known to happen every once in a while, where more often than not, these "friend" requests are mostly full of spammy individuals. Even though random messages from strangers are common on social media platforms, the woman's profile stuck with him. 

Tyrel kept this unexpected request in mind; just deleted the message, and moved on with his life. He really didn't  put much thought into it at the time. The 'random woman' who sent the friend request was named Joana Marchan, who was a resident of the Philippines. Tyrel had never been to the Philippines in his life. He didn't exactly know anybody by the name of Joana Marchan. After looking through her profile, he realized that Joan had never been to the United States; let alone, his small town in Idaho. 

Tyrel put the entire enigma out of his head, and figured that she may have had the wrong person, or either was a scammer or spammer. He decided to carry on with his life as usual and ignored to reply to the message. For some reason, he felt as though he should have replied. 

Two years have passed since then. Joana sent another request. Tyrel found himself intrigued by this woman's persistence. Tyrel went through this woman's profile once more and still found nothing. Even though his interest was piqued, he now has to know the truth as to why this woman was insistent on reaching out to him. Neither one of them had friends in common. Tyrel was clueless on who Joana was. He couldn't help but get to the bottom of this enigmatic story. 

He wanted to get her off of his mind once and for all. Tyrel mustered all the courage he could to send Joana a reply. He kept it simple and to the point. He replied, "One question: how do I know you?"

She responded rather quickly; but in a form of a question instead of an answer. She asked, "You know about the Samaritan's purse?" Tyrel was sure that it was an organization, but he couldn't recall where he had heard of it. After some thought, it all came back to him.

Tyrel remembered a time when he was a young boy of 7, where he had been a part of a program called 'Operation Christmas Child'; a project organized by a non-profit organization called, Samaritan's Purse.Every year, the organization would pack shoeboxes full of gifts for the less fortunate children around the world during Christmas. These boxes contained things like small toys, toiletries, etc; especially school supplies. 

Tyrel knew what she was talking about, but still didn't understand why she would be contacting him about a program he had participated in as a child. The next response from Joana answered all of his questions. The message stated that she was one of the children, who had been the recipient of his Christmas gift shoebox that year. Tyrel was completely bewildered. He couldn't believe for a second that the recipient of his shoebox would have remembered his name that many years ago; let alone, reach out to him on Facebook. While Tyrel was in awe, other people close to him, were very concerned. 

Everyone close to Tyrel concerned about the situation, were undoubtedly his parents. They all feared that Joana - if that truly was her real name - was out to prey on him. They were afraid that she was trying to gain his trust and deceive him online. They believe that the only way to find out if she was telling the truth, was by testing her. Tyrel did just that.

The only test that Tyrel could think of, was to verify the contents of the gifts.

Even though Joana didn't exactly remember everything that was in the shoebox, she did remember a good portion of the items, which turned out to be correct; yet, it wasn't exactly enough to convince Tyrel that she was telling the truth. However, she did remember one specific thing that was in the box - a photograph. Tyrel recalled that he had placed a picture of himself in the gift box. He asked her to describe the photo as detailed as possible.

Joana's response came as a huge surprise to Tyrel. She wrote in her reply that she had received a photo of "a cute cowboy with a wooden background." Tyrel knew that this photo was the exact one he had placed inside of the shoebox all those years ago. Coincidentally enough, the shoebox Tyrel had sent 11 years ago that one fateful Christmas, made its way to this little girl in the Philippines, who not only received the box, but kept the photo with his name as well. Tyrel knew 100% that she was now telling the truth.

As pleasant as the situation was, there still remained an unanswered question:"Did she have other intentions? Or did she just want to thank him from all those years ago?" Joana thanked Tyrel for the nice Christmas gift. Tyrel believed that even for most people, that would simply be the end of it; but, this was not Joana's intention. She wanted to get to know him.

As time went on, they continued conversing via the Internet. They began corresponding on a daily basis, and found that they each had a lot in common. They were both big fans of Christian music. They continued to keep in touch for almost a year and a half as Tyrel finally graduated from high school and was planning his next steps for his future. He had begun to save up some money and decided to travel to eventually meet with Joana.



Earlier on his conversations with Joana, Tyrel sent her a message to ask if he could visit her in the Philippines. Joana was more than ecstatic to have Tyrel come to visit.

Tyrel had put in so many hours at work so that he could save up enough money for the trip to Manila, the capital of the Philippines. This was his first time traveling alone, and was incredibly nervous. There were so many questions running through his head.

The time finally came for Tyrel to board the plane to the Philippines. After his 14 hour trip, Joana was at the airport waiting to greet him. Joana and her family went to go the extra miles to welcome Tyrel into their home. Tyrel said that it seemed like he was already a part of the family based on the way he was welcomed. There was such a strong connection between the two friends that something special sparked within.

Tyrel tried to stay in the Philippines as long as he could, but as soon as a month had gone by, it was time for him to go home. The two developed romantic feelings for each other; and they promised each other that this visit will not be the last.

  

His trip had already been extended by multiple periods of time, but neither of them knew what to do about the separation. It seemed that it would be difficult to maintain their relationship across thousands of miles. As soon as Tyrel returned to his small town in Idaho, he began saving up some money for another trip. He was determined to go back to the Philippines to visit Joana once more, and pretty soon, he would change both of their lives forever.

  

By the time Tyrel's third visit to Joana transpired, he had learned enough Tagalog, the national language of the Philippines, to use these skills to propose her hand in marriage with Joana's father. Joana's father accepted Tyrel's request, but not everyone in her family was as pleased with the relationship as he was.

 

There was a singular person in Joana's life whose opinion mattered the most. The entirety of their relationship was laid in the hands of Joana's mother. She felt as though the relationship was moving too quickly. She wanted them to slow down, and get to know each other deeper; prior to getting married. Tyrel respected her concern. He understood why she had felt in this manner since he was a foreigner; and that the rest of Joana's family didn't feel as though they were aware of his intentions well enough to agree to the marriage just yet. Henceforth, Tyrel got a little help from reinforcements. Tyrel felt that the situation could be cleared up if Joana's family were able to meet someone from his family. Tyrel convinced his father that it would be a good idea for him to come to the Philippines with him to meet with Joana's family.

Tyrel's father agreed to the request, and he understood that his son was very intent on marrying Joana by doing the right thing. Of course, he wasn't going to just marry Joana without her mother's approval. After meeting with Tyrel's father, Joana's mother finally agreed and gave her blessing for the couple to marry. 

The wedding plans then moved very swiftly; 5 months after Tyrel's proposal. They got married in October of 2014 with a simple wedding at Tyrel's parents' ranch. Joana wore a wedding gown she purchased from a thrift store for just $5, and Tyrel wore a traditional Filipino garment, called a Barong. What made the wedding so special, was what the couple had asked from the guests in lieu for wedding gifts. Joana and Tyrel didn't have a typical love story, so they didn't want anything too fancy. They felt already blessed in the way of how the two have met and how they were brought together as a couple, so it was necessary for them to pay it forward by giving others the chance to connect in the same way. The guests were asked to give to the charity and the needy by bringing shoeboxes with small gifts to be donated to Operation Christmas Child! The organization, which brought them together. The guests were also asked to put a special note in their shoebox; much like the one Tyrel had written for Joana. The notes were actually written to aspire and teach others about good things which can come from helping out people in need.

  

The couple spent their honeymoon taking all of the shoeboxes from Idaho to North Carolina in person. After the wedding, Joana decided to move with Tyrel in the United States and the couple continued their tradition by giving shoebox gifts every year to Operation Christmas Child. Since Tyrel was often required to travel for work, Joana accompanied him and has seen much of the United States. Since she had once lived in a bustling city, adjusting to the quiet country life wasn't necessarily easy. However, she managed to love it with the help of her husband and his family. Three years later, the couple welcomed a baby boy, named Harlann Jun Wolfe. Since then, the couple were still living out their happy lives in Idaho, traveling frequently. They will never forget how they were brought together and their incredible story that followed after. And to think, it was all thanks to a shoebox and a photograph.