| SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY AND LOVE by David Welch The story of how I met, and then fell in love with my Valentine might be what some people would say is an odd way of meeting, but in our case it has worked for us. God has a plan for all of us though, and we understand we are together because God brought us together for a reason. I have never questioned God for the health troubles I've had to deal with, and try an live in the present. I look forward to the future, but never blame God for what troubles I've had during my past. My name is David Welch, and I've been a diabetic since I was four years old. Since I was 23 I've had many health problems -- blindness, loss of my kidneys, open heart surgery, and now I'm in a wheelchair. The one thing I have enjoyed doing since my health has declined is to use my computer with a screen reading program for the blind. One evening, I downloaded a program I had heard about called Freedom Chat, which was for blind people. Chat programs are something I really never enjoyed, but I'm so glad this time I tried it out. I didn't call anyone when I got online, but I received a private message from a young lady asking who I was. We started chatting and we both had health problems and felt comfortable with our conversation. Come to find out she was legally blind in one eye and completely blind in the other, along with being deaf in one ear. She had Lupus which had created many of her health problems. We chatted several times as the weeks went by, but neither of us thought much more of it than just a friendly conversation. I found out that she was from Thailand, but had become an American citizen nearly twenty years earlier. Her name was Nualanong Pumyam, but wanted to be called an American name, Nicole. Nicole mentioned to me that she was in school still working on her English, and computer skills using JAWS, the same screen reading program that I was using, and I thought I could help her out with her school work. We spent many evenings on the phone, with free long distance service, working on the computer skills, and her English. I had no problem helping her with her computer skills -- but hey, I probably need a little help at times myself with English! The one thing I kept telling her, was she should never trust anyone that she chats with. I told her many times she should go out and enjoy her life, but never agree to meet some guy that she was talking with over the Internet. I wanted Nicole to understand that meeting someone she had been chatting with over the computer could be very dangerous! As time went by the two of us started feeling much closer, and she said she would love to see what Kentucky was like. We managed to arrange for a plane ticket so she could visit Glasgow, Kentucky, where I live. Yes, we did exactly what I had been preaching for her to never do, and brought her to my hometown. With help from my brother driving me to the airport in Nashville, we picked up Nicole. It didn't take her long to notice a big difference between the people in San Jose, California, and the southern hospitality of the people that she would meet here in Kentucky. She said the people in Glasgow all seemed so friendly, and she fell in love with the town. The visit turned into a move to Glasgow, and she has never returned to California since. Actually, as I mentioned, Nicole fell in love with Glasgow, but we fell in love with each other as well. We have been together now for four years, and we have built a good life with one another, and on July 5, 2009, Nicole became my bride. I may not have the ability to always provide her with material things, like other men might give their girlfriend or wife, but we certainly give each other loyalty, respect, happiness, and most significantly... love! -- David Welch <dwelch at glasgow-ky.com> |