Pen Palling has been a passion of mine since I got my first computer in 1966. I
got my first pen pals for a magazine I was taking call Victorian Decorating &
Lifestyles. I wrote in that I would like to have a few pen pals. I told of a
few of my interests. I received about 25 letters from all over the US and one from
Cape Town South Africa. It was so interesting to visit with other ladies all over
the country and world and share ideas and learn about different lives.
This hobby has lead me to some very unique happenings in our lives. The following
is one is one of those happenings.
A Titanic Internet Courtship
This love story of Ross(Aussie) and Wilma(Princess from Texas)...
spanned the globe, from Houston, Texas to Australia, and touched the lives
of many along the way. What were the chances
that two people so perfect for each other would ever meet when they lived over 8,000 miles
apart and most of these miles are ocean waters across the equator.
The beginning of this story started before they even knew each
other existed, with two mutual friends, Danny and Linda Hass. Danny and Linda had a Titanic book published 1912
(the year the great ship sank). Linda was
researching it on a Titanic Web site after they had seen the movie “Titanic” for
the 3rd time and thought it was the greatest movie ever made. She found the Titanic Message Board where people
discussed things about the movie. Ross
Doughton, in the meantime, had seen the movie many times in Australia and had a book that
he wanted to share with those who were interested on the message board. Linda inquired on the message board if this
could be the same book. On May 19. 1998,
Ross emailed her direct to tell her what he knew about his book, what he thought about the
movie, and of his interest in sailing vessels that had sank especially off the coast of
Australia. He said that he lived in
Australia. After Danny & Linda read the
letter they decided that Linda should reply to hisemail him. They continued this correspondence regularly ever
since. Danny, Linda & Ross became good
friends. They learned Ross had been divorced
for 8 years with 4 grown children.
Wilma has been a close friend with Danny and Linda for 30+
years. She had been widowed for 1� years at
the time. She has 3 grown children. Linda thought it would be nice for Wilma to have a
friend to talk to by email. Linda asked
Wilma if she would like to meet and email this handsome Aussie Guy. She said it might be fun. So Linda introduced them never thinking that they
would ever meet in person much less end up getting married.
They started emailing in August 1998. After
Danny’s birthday in September he wrote Ross and invited him to visit them in the
United States. Ross accepted for sometimes
the following year. Wilma and him were just
email friends at the time.
On Thanksgiving 1998 Ross place a call to Hass Country and we
all talked for the first time. Wilma and
daughter was there to share the holiday with the Hass’s. Linda warned Ross that Wilma
had a sexy voice on the phone so guard his heart. The
next week Ross called Wilma at her home and the romance begin. As the song “Secret Garden” from
“Jerry McGwire” goes, “She had him at Hello!” They talked constantly on the phone, email and
ICQ. On February 14, 1999 they declared their
love for each other. By April, Ross told
Wilma, Danny and Linda that he was 100% sure that Wilma was the lady he wanted to spend
the rest of his life with because she had a really good heart and he had fallen in love
with her. All this before they ever set eyes
on each other. (February 14th was when Linda was commissioned to paint a Romantic Park Scene Mural at a local restaurant, Bon Ton Bistro now
Olsen’s. This mural was inspired by their growing romance).
On May 11, 1999 Wilma and Ross saw each other for the first
time when Wilma met him at the Houston International Airport.
They visited Danny and Linda at Hass Country where they all
watched the movie Titanic together. We had
our first dinner celebration by the Romantic French Park Scene Mural. Ross declares that if the Titanic had not sunk he
would have never met his princess. They feel
that they met on the deck and this ship is their “Ship of Dreams” and it will
live on in their hearts.
Ross proposed to Wilma on May 13th and she accepted. He gave her a beautiful diamond heart (like the
“heart of the ocean” in the movie Titanic) engagement ring, May 23rd.
They got married under the century old live oak trees at Hass
Country, October 16, 1999. The theme of their wedding was
the happy parts of Titanic. Ross had to leave his wife behind and go
back to work in Australia cause she had to wait for her visa and residency passport and
sell her house. In May 2000 she joined him in
Australia. They have bought a new home and her a little red car and are working
together in his business.
They came for a visit this January 2001 and are a very happy couple. As a tradition we celebrated at Olsen’s in
front of the Romantic Park Scene Muriel, pictured in Photos.
