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There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
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There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis

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'We got engaged on our first date!'

Such a beautiful love story. - by Jacqueline Mey
  • 18 Apr 2020

Rebecca fell in love with a man she’d never met.

Here, Rebecca Pisano, 69, from Seaford, Victoria, shares the story in her own words.

'We got engaged on our first date!'

Gently, I blew the dust off an old box and emptied it onto the table. 

Hundreds of handwritten letters and photos scattered before me, and my eyes filled with tears as I read them one by one. 

Growing up, in a lower-class family in a small town in the Philippines, I dreamed of one day travelling to the capital city of Manila. 

As a teenager, I fantasised about venturing to cities in faraway kingdoms around the globe. 

In fact, I dreamed about them so much, I decided to join an international pen pal community. 

Exchanging letters with strangers all over the world, I learnt what life was like in other countries. 

For many years, I formed friendships with people from different backgrounds and from all corners of the earth. 

Eventually, my childhood wish came true, and I found myself hanging up my university degree in an office in Manila. 

By then, I was 35, and still growing my pen pal community. 

One day, I was flicking through my mail when I noticed a white envelope with handwriting I’d never seen before. 

 

Rebecca and Tony on wedding day

Us on our wedding day

A new friend! I thought, eagerly tearing open the letter.  

Dearest Rebecca, it began in beautiful cursive.  

Instantly enthralled, I hung on every word as the stranger described his life in Australia. 

Yours, Anthony N Pisano, he signed it at the bottom. 

Immediately, I penned a letter in return.  

And soon, notes were flowing back and forth. 

Anthony, 45, told me he was a school teacher and that he longed to fall in love and marry. 

Each day, I found myself racing home to check my postbox, desperate for his responses. 

Recognising his handwriting, I’d tear open his letters and settle on the lounge to read them, beaming from ear to ear. 

In the blink of an eye, our correspondence turned into love letters and soon, instead of my mailbox, I would wait by the telephone for our weekly call.  

A year on from our first letter, I was in love with a man I had never met. 

‘You don’t even know him!’ my friends would comment in shock when I gushed about him.  

Deep down, I knew they were right, but I couldn’t help the way I was feeling. 

‘I’m coming to Manila,’ Tony told me one night.  

‘What?’ I squealed excitedly.  

It would be our first ever date!  

Sure enough, a few weeks later, I ran into Tony’s arms at the airport. 

We’d exchanged photos, so I recognised him straight away, but with his beautiful brown eyes and cuddly chest, he was more handsome than I’d even imagined. 

Rebecca and Tony on travels

We travelled together and lived the life I'd dreamed

Spending the next two weeks hand-in-hand, I showed Tony around the Philippines. 

Then, on the last day of our holiday, Tony got down on one knee. 

‘Will you be my wife?’ he smiled, holding out a gorgeous diamond ring. 

‘I…’ I paused in shock. 

Everything seemed to be happening so fast. 

But as I met Tony’s eyes, I instantly felt safe.  

Slipping on the ring, I couldn’t say a word.  

‘Take your time,’ he soothed as I buried my head in his chest.  

But that night, as I waved Tony off at the airport, my heart sank. 

When will I see him again? I thought, devastated. 

So, racing home, I picked up a pen and quickly scrawled on a piece of paper. 

YES! I will marry you! I wrote.  

Tony received it soon after he arrived back home, and the next thing I knew he was helping me sort the legal forms I needed to move to Australia. 

Finally, a year later, I placed all our love letters in a box, said goodbye to my family and boarded a flight. 

Reuniting with Tony at the airport, our lips met.  

I’m home! I thought, happily wrapping my arms around my fiancé.  

I moved in with Tony, and within days I found a job. 

Rebecca and Tony together
Every day he made me smike

After being apart for so long, it was wonderful being able to snuggle up together every night. 

I’d gambled my life without knowing anyone in Australia, but it paid off – I’d found true love. 

And when Tony whisked me off to Sydney, it took my breath away. 

A month after I landed, I slipped into my simple white wedding gown and met the man of my dreams at the end of the aisle. 

As we stared into each other’s eyes, Tony vowed to care for and love me as long as we both lived. 

Every day of our marriage, he managed to make me smile. And for 33 years, I felt like Tony had carried me away to live in the faraway kingdom I’d dreamed of as a young girl. 

During his school holidays, we travelled the country. 

And when Tony fell sick after he retired from teaching, I cared for him. 

Sadly, last year, my smile stopped growing when Tony passed away. 

Flicking through the letters and photos of our love, I will always be missing the heart-shaped puzzle piece that makes me whole. 

Closing the lid on our scores of memories, I pulled the box close to my chest. 

I will never stop grieving my love, but Tony will forever be in my heart. ● 

 

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Jacqueline Mey
Jacqueline Mey
Jacqueline is a Features Writer for that’s life! magazine. Previously working at Prevention, she has published works across Bella, Closer, Take a Break, Real People and that’s life! UK. She is also the host of Girlfriend’s Beauty Boss Podcast.

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There's A Better, Faster Way To Predict Sepsis
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