-
Home Ideas
-
Lifestyle
-
Parenting
-
Fun
-
Sign In
Sign Out
Don't miss the designs you like!
Sometimes the smallest things in life can have the biggest impact on our futures. Take Tyrel Wolfe and Joana Marchan for example: They were from opposite sides of the world, brought together by a very simple good deed that had occurred many years ago. An incredible chain of events then unfolded, leading to probably the most unforgettable tales of connection ever...
One day, when 18-year-old Tyrel Wolfe was going about his daily routine, he received a friend request from a stranger on Facebook. For anyone who uses Facebook, you know that this happens once in a while. Usually, it stirs wariness about scams and spams.
So, keeping that in mind, Tyrel decided to delete the request and move on with his life. He didn’t put a lot of thought into it at the time. Little did he know that the person sending the message would eventually come back to play a major role in his life.
The seemingly random friend request was from a Filipino woman named Joana Marchan. Tyrel had neither been to the Philippines before, nor did he recognize the name Joana Marchan. But after checking Joana’s Facebook profile, he noticed something strange.
From the looks of it, Joana had never been to America, not to mention Tyrel’s small town in Idaho. He was left scratching his head, wondering just what on earth she could have wanted. Soon though, it would all fall into place in the most unimaginable way!
Although Tyrel had chosen to dismiss the odd matter by deleting the message, thinking that either she had the wrong person or she was indeed some kind of bot Internet scammer, he was still curious and wondered if he should have responded more positively.
For some reason, thoughts of the incident kept bothering him for a while, then eventually faded away. But just when everything seemed back to normal, something strange happened again. Tyrel received another friend request from Joana on Facebook.
Actually, two years had passed since Tyrel received the initial strange request. This time, it further sparked his curiosity. Why was this woman so persistent, sending another message after all these years?
Once again, Tyrel went through this mysterious woman’s Facebook profile, trying to find some kind of connection between her and himself. Still, though, he found nothing. However, his curiosity had now peaked and he had to find out the truth.
After much thinking and consulting with friends, Tyrel decided that he was going to reach out to this mysterious woman. So, on one fateful day, he mustered all the courage he could and planned to message her back.
After thinking over what he would write, Tyrel decided that he should keep his message simple and to the point. “How do you know me?” he bluntly wrote. But the message he received was far beyond his expectation.
Surprisingly, instead of answering Tyrel’s short question, Joana just sent him another question, one that stumped Tyrel and made him search deep into his past.
Joana asked him if he knew about the “Samaritan’s Purse.” Tyrel was sure that it was an organization of some sort, but he just couldn’t remember when and where he had heard of it. Then, suddenly, it all came rushing back to him.
Tyrel recalled that when he was just 7 years old, he joined a program called Operation Christmas Child, an organization created by none other than the non-profit called Samaritan’s Purse.
Every year the organization would send shoeboxes full of gifts to less fortunate children around the world for Christmas. The boxes contained things like small toys, toiletries, and even school supplies. However, though Tyrel knew what Joana was talking about, he still couldn’t figure out why she would be contacting him about a program he had taken part in as a child.
Soon Tyrel received another message from Joana that answered all his questions. The message simply claimed that she, Joana Marchan, had been the recipient of his Christmas shoebox gift all those years ago.
Tyrel was shocked. He couldn’t believe that the recipient of his shoebox had remembered him for so many years and had decided to find him on Facebook now. But while Tyrel was pleasantly surprised, his parents were very concerned and not all happy with what was going on.
Tyrel’s parents feared that Joana - if that was her real name - was reaching out to Tyrel for only one thing, to prey on innocent young Tyrel. They were afraid that Joana was attempting to deceive Tyrel by gaining his trust online.
They assumed that once she gained his trust, she would surely ask for money or something much worse. After a great deal of thought, they came up with a test that would tell if Joana was making the whole thing up.
Tyrel asked Joana what was in the shoebox. While she didn’t remember everything in it, she did remember some of the items and all the items she remembered were correct. But that was not enough to prove she was telling the truth until she mentioned one specific item - a photo.
Tyrel recalled that he had put a photo of himself inside the shoebox. But many of the people who sent Christmas shoebox presents also did that. So, he asked her to describe the picture in detail.
Joana replied that she had received a photo of “a cute cowboy with a wooden background.” Tyrel knew that it was the exact photo that he had placed in the shoebox so many years ago. Unbelievably, the shoebox had made its way to a little girl on the other side of the world.
Not only had the girl received the box, but she also kept the picture and name of the sender. Tyrel was now 100% sure that she was telling the truth about the whole thing. But soon, the seemingly-innocent Facebook connection would catapult to a whole new level.
As good as the whole situation was, there remained one question. Did she keep those things for so long just to say thank you to the sender? Or did she have other intentions?
Joana did indeed thank Tyrel for the Christmas gift, and for most people, that would be that, and then they would go back to their daily lives. But this wasn’t the case with Joana. She wanted to know more about this nice man from the other side of the world. Fortunately for them, their wonderful story was just beginning.
As time went by, the two continued talking online. It even got to the point that they started talking daily. Before they knew it, more than a year and a half had passed. By that time, Joana had known Tyrel very well. But little did she know that Tyrel had something big planned.
Tyrel had long been hoping to meet Joana, but flying halfway around the world was no small expense. So, he had started saving up money from early on in his contact with Joana. When he could afford the air ticket and Joana agreed to his visit, he bought a ticket to the Philippines. Little did he know that the trip would completely change his life.
The day of the flight finally came and Tyrel boarded his plane. It usually takes at least 14 hours to fly from Idaho to the Philippines, but for Tyrel, it was more than worth it. When he finally landed, Joana was already waiting there. She and her family all welcomed him into their home with open arms and kind gestures.
Tyrel and Joana got along like old rekindled friends. There was such a strong connection between them, and they enjoyed each other’s company more and more. As the days passed by and turned into weeks, something incredible happened.
They became far closer than just friends. A more appropriate word to describe their relationship would probably be lovers. Soon, a month passed by, and it was time for Tyrel to return home. Neither of them wanted to separate from each other.
Though they couldn’t stop the separation, they promised each other that it would certainly not be the last time that they met. Long-distance relationships can be tough, especially for the two on opposite sides of the world. However, neither of them had expected what happened next.
From the moment Tyrel returned to his small town, he started saving up money again. After the whirlwind of his first trip, he was determined to visit his dear Joana again. And pretty soon, he made it.
His second trip to visit Joana was even better than the first. Their relationship deepened even further. But again, before long, the time came for Tyrel to head back home. The separation was just too much for them to handle. But after this, Tyrel had a plan, one that would change both of their lives forever.
Soon, Tyrel paid a third visit to the Philippines. By this time, he had learned enough Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines, to talk with Joana’s father privately about his future with his daughter. In what seemed like an abrupt request, Tyrel asked to marry Joana.
Joana’s father graciously agreed, but someone who played a significant role in Joana’s life was not pleased with the idea. Due to this person’s disagreement, the entirety of their relationship was in jeopardy.
The person was Joana’s mother! She felt that everything was moving just a bit too quickly. She wanted the couple to slow down and really get to know each other much better before tying the knot. Tyrel understood and respected her opinion, but that didn’t mean he would give in to her.
Tyrel suspected that she felt the way she did because he was a foreigner and that she didn’t seem to know his intentions well enough to agree to the marriage. So, Tyrel decided to bring reinforcements.
Given his whirlwind romance with Joana, Tyrel felt it would help clear the air if Joana’s family were able to meet someone from his family. So, Tyrel asked his father to come to the Philippines and meet the family of the woman he loved.
Tyrel’s father eventually agreed, understanding that his son was very intent on marrying Joana. He knew that his son could not marry Joana without her mother’s approval. So, Tyrel’s father also flew to this Southeast Asian country.
After meeting with Tyrel’s father, Joana’s mother finally agreed to her daughter’s marriage with Tyrel and gave her blessing to the couple. The couple were thrilled, as it was like a dream come true. The wedding plans moved quickly, and the two ended up getting married in October 2014 at Tyrel’s parents’ ranch.
On their big day, Joana wore a wedding gown that she bought from a thrift store for just $5 and Tyrel wore a traditional Filipino garment. It was a simple but perfect country wedding. But what made it special was what the couple asked from the guests in lieu of wedding gifts.
Tyrel and Joana didn’t want anything extravagant, nor did they want typical wedding gifts. They, in fact, asked their wedding guests to bring shoeboxes full of small gifts. And more than that, each of the guests was asked to place a special note in their gift shoebox.
On the note was a story of how Tyrel and Joana met, fell in love, and ended up marrying each other. All the shoeboxes would be donated to Operation Christmas Child, the same organization that Tyrel joined as a young boy. The couple felt blessed by the way that brought them together and thought that it was right for them to pay it forward and give others the chance to connect in the same way. However, their amazing story didn’t end here.
After their wedding, the duo made it a tradition to give shoebox gifts every year to Operation Christmas Child. Their story has spread around the world and inspired many people to donate to charity. Also, comments flooded into their social media accounts, praising how admirable they were.
Three years after getting married, Tyrel and Joana welcomed a baby boy to their family. The couple has expressed their gratitude for every day that they’ve spent together. We wish Tyrel and Joana a long and happy life!
Click Allow for free updates on top stories you'd love!
