Thursday, February 23, 2012

Love Letters....

February is known as the month of love....so before it ends I have one "too cute for words" love story.
For all you out there who don't believe that true love will happen...take a moment to read Chris and Whitney's story...I promise you that you that if you are still looking for Mr. or Mrs. Right you might be headed to OKCupid (and no they are not paying me for this endorsement).
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Whitney had just joined OkCupid when Chris sent her an email. Most people just say, "Hi. You’re cute," but Chris sent two pages explaining who he was, what he was like and why he was perfect for Whitney. In fact, she dubbed him "cover letter guy." He also sent an unflattering picture taken late at night, in a white t-shirt, when he’d clearly given up on love. Whitney thought his email was…thoughtful…but (she shamefully admits) definitely wasn't sold on him. The fact that he worked at Duke may have played a role in this Carolina girl’s prejudice. She responded that they could be friends. In fact, she mentioned being "friends" about four times thinking, “Let’s let him down easy.” Not one to easily accept defeat Chris thought, “Alright she’s interested!” Despite her disinterest, he pursued until she finally called and agreed to dinner. When an ecstatic Chris picked Whitney up she immediately realized he was very handsome, super cool (far cooler than her) and incredibly thoughtful (he brought her favorite fruit snacks).
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Love Letters
Here is some early correspondence between Chris and Whitney
Chris’ first letter:
My name is Chris and I currently live and work in Durham. I enjoy meeting new people and trying new things. In fact, this whole okcupid thing is very new to me --> I only came across it a few days ago, and have not even completed my profile yet. Nonetheless, if it gives me the opportunity to meet someone new who I may develop a great friendship with or even more, then I am all for it and willing to try it out. Since my okcupid profile is sparse right now, let me tell you a few things about me in this message --> I enjoy travel (abroad especially), am very close to my family, and I am hispanic/latino (Peruvian) with a little sprinkle of Chinese (my great-grandfather was Chinese). I am looking to be in a relationship and at the very least a long-lasting friendship with a good intelligent girl. Other stuff about me --> I have finished medical school and completed my residency training, and am currently halfway through my specialty training at Duke Medical Center. Of course, the downside to all of this, is that up until this point, I have been in-training forever --> but, luckily, I'll be done in 2012. I am 33 years old, and although there is a small gap in our ages, I suspect that we are looking for similar things in life. Ultimately, what I can bring to the table is someone who is kind, honest, educated, adventurous, has a good sense of humor, and who has great values that were instilled in me by my parents. And yes, I would like to say that I do tons of outdoor activities too, but the truth is that I haven't done much YET --> what I do have however is the desire to want to try and learn lots of new things and have new adventures and hopefully, you would want to try these with me too. So, although I've never mountain-climbed or kayaked yet, I think it's only a matter of time.
I'd love to get a chance to learn more about you and maybe even meet you. You can rest assured that I am not weird or dangerous in any way. Honestly, I do think of myself as a decent guy with a good heart and definite direction in life. I am simply looking to establish a relationship with a great girl that will hopefully lead to something very meaningful --> either as a couple or at least as friends. After all, I am not originally from North Carolina --> I grew up in NJ and this is where my parents still currently reside (I also still have a good amount of family living in Peru). I have only been at Duke for a little over 1.5 years, and it would be great to find someone who I can share laughs with over dinner and other activities, and who can enrich my life with her interests and experiences in the same way that I can do for her. What else can I tell you about myself in this message --> I love eating all types of food, and will seek out great restaurants in any city where I happen to be. One of the reasons that I loved my trip to Italy several years ago, was that the food was amazing (ditto with France). I speak fluent Spanish (a perfect match!) and have forgotten most but not all of my elementary French. I am 5 foot 6 and about 155 pounds with a thin to average build (trying to find time to exercise more these days now that my hospital schedule is a little more tolerable). I have black hair and brown eyes. Actually, I did manage to download some pictures of myself onto my profile page, so you can check those out if you'd like. As I mentioned before, I am very new to this site and will hopefully fill out more stuff about myself on my page soon but, if the above description of my intentions for messaging you and the brief description I provided is enough for you to want to find out more about me --> then email me at chris@yahoo.com and I'd be happy to send you more pictures, as well as tell you more about me.  

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Whitney's Response
Dear Chris,
I am sorry to have taken so long to respond. I thought your well thought out message deserved a well thought out response.
It sounds like you are a very passionate, caring and open-minded individual. It is clear that you have very honorable intentions, and you also seem very accomplished and cultured--what great qualities. As you mentioned in your message to me, friendship is a great place to start. This is actually what I am looking for in the immediate future and is why I joined OKcupid, because I must admit that I am not yet ready for a relationship. I just ended a relationship of 1 1/2 years 6 weeks ago, and am still giving myself time to heal. I joined OKcupid because I wanted to establish friendships, and hopefully, when the time is right, a friendship could grow into something more. So if you are interested in getting to know me as a friend, then I would be very happy to get to know you as well.
So, congratulations on finishing your residency. I am sure that must have been very difficult. What will you be specializing in? You had mentioned that you are Peruvian. What part of Peru is your family from? Are you able to visit them much? You said that you are relatively new to the area. Where did you live before? Did you go to undergrad and med school in New Jersey?
Well, thank you so much for contacting me and your thoughtful email. I hope your weekend is going well.
-Whitney
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Shortly after their first date, Whitney left to volunteer in Guatemala. First, Chris bought a calling card. Then, unable to wait, he flew to Guatemala to see her. For a week, they travelled on the most amazing adventure. After Chris left, Whitney got sick. She needed to come home, but couldn’t afford the flight. Within a day she got an email with the ticket Chris had purchased to bring her home. Two days later he asked her to be his girlfriend at Duke Gardens. Things moved quickly since they knew they were perfect for each other and worked hard to not let school loyalties (*cough* ) come between them.
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After getting the thumbs-up from Whitney’s dad, Chris proceeded to create the perfect proposal. They had talked about getting married at the Carolina Inn’s Bryan Courtyard under a tree. Tracey, from the Carolina Inn, contacted Whitney and asked her to come in to discuss some possibilities. Chris said he had to work, so Whitney took her roommate, Lindsey, with her instead. When they arrived, all Whitney wanted to do was look at the courtyard. She was so hard to hold back, that Lindsey resorted to distracting her with broken grandfather clocks in the lobby. When Tracey arrived she escorted them to the courtyard, where everyone contrived to leave Whitney alone. It was beautifully decorated with rose petals leading to the tree, bouquets of flowers and a pillow on the ground (which Whitney failed to notice). When she heard a viola begin playing, Whitney was sure a wedding was about to commence and that she was in the wrong place, but then Chris came from behind the tree with a dozen roses. He led a shocked Whitney to the tree and knelt down on the pillow to propose. Whitney said, ”Of course!” They are now planning a spectacular wedding for September of 2013.
Congratulations Chris and Whitney!
We are looking forward to your special day! (and thanks for letting us be a part of your engagement)

2 comments:

  1. What a great story. I wish them all the best (even though he's a Dookie).

    Steve Zandy
    Class of '78

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations on your beautiful love story! I am so happy for you both!

    Emily Clark
    UNC Grad Student

    ReplyDelete