A Belarus woman and an American man found love online through a dating site, and despite all odds got married.
A Texas resident Shiloh Banks registered on a dating site by chance, and just at the same time his future bride Svetlana from Belarus joined the same online personals venue, KP.by reported.
Svetlana said she had registered on dating sites before, but usually would delete her profile soon thereafter.
This time she placed her profile online, and uploaded a different photo. Svetlana had been in a wheelchair for many years, and this time she chose a picture where others could see it. She was born with a condition affecting her muscles, which became obvious since she was 3 years old.
Surprisingly, she was receiving a lot of requests from all over the world. But it was all too much for her, so she again deleted her profile.
However, she continued communicating with 2 men, one of them was Shiloh. Svetlana was the only one whom Shiloh decided to write. He was excited to receive her response.
This story happened 5 years ago, and now the 33-year-old Belarus woman is married to her 40-year-old Texas cowboy.
Shiloh is also not a stranger to feeling different. He has a Vitiligo decease, which saw his skin changing its pigmentation. The dark-skinned man is now nearly pale in his face. His condition also started in his childhood. He stated that although his condition isn’t contagious, some parents wouldn’t allow their kids to play with him, when he was at school.
Svetlana was born in Russia, and moved with her family to Belarus 15 years ago, to be closer to her sister, who lives in Minsk.
Svetlana works as a copywriter, and has a degree in journalism from a Moscow university, which she obtained through correspondence.
When Svetlana started communicating with her future American boyfriend, she couldn’t speak English well, but as their connection progressed, her language skills improved dramatically. She even started studying business administration at Chicago university through a distance education course.
The pair met for the first time 8 months after their chance meeting online. During these months they were constantly chatting online by Skype and phone.
Shiloh was ready to get married on his first visit, but Svetlana needed to change her citizenship in order to enter nuptials in Belarus. Her father secretly hoped that the American groom wouldn’t come back for her, as he wasn’t too keen on his daughter marrying an overseas admirer.
But Shiloh did come back, this time with a wedding dress for Svetlana and a suit for himself. Their marriage was blessed by the Patriarch Filaret himself. They were married at the main Cathedral, where only selected few ever get to say, “I do”.
“I was feeling like Cinderella at the Ball,” Svetlana said.
After the couple got married, Shiloh moved to Belarus to look after his wife, while her spouse visa is getting approved.
In the meantime, the American groom learned how to crochet, and is making hand-crafted jumpers and other items of clothing.
He is also teaching English via Skype, after obtaining certificates TESOL in business English and teaching English to children.
When they move to the U.S., the spouses dream to start a business of making handcrafted soups.
When reporters asked Svetlana if she was worried when her newlywed husband moved to her country, which has an enormous amount of young and beautiful single Belarus women, she responded that she had no such concerns.
“Each of us has a choice — to love or to live your whole life without love because of fears, that you will not be able to meet the right person or that they will be taken away from you,” she said. Obviously, she has made a decision for herself to love.
“I love her very much, she is very kind,” the American husband said about his Belarus wife.
Svetlana feels that finding love and support in her American husband opened up her world: Being in a wheelchair, getting out on her own was problematic, and her parents were getting older and couldn’t take her out often.
“I have the feeling that with his appearance in my life the walls opened up to the whole world,” she said.
Photos: VK Svetlana Banks, Shiloh Banks Google+
Read also:
- Belarus Women — What Is Special about Them
- Wedding Photos: Tamara and Lothar (Belarus — Germany)
- 2015 Nobel Prize Winner Svetlana Alexievich: My Next Book Will Be About Love
- Give Online Dating a Try — Lothar and Tamara (Germany-Belarus)
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This is a good and a true story. These stories prove that love is possible anytime and anywhere. Two people are meant for each other will be able to meet, regardless of nationality, place of living, and the problems in their life. Good luck and happiness to this couple in their family life.
It’s wonderful that despite the difficulties Shiloh and Svetlana have reverent relationships and take care about each other. We used to see beautiful love stories only in films or read about them in books. But this unbelievable pair proves that true love exists not only in fairy tales but in daily life, too. Shiloh is a real man and deserves respect.
It’s always a pleasure reading such stories. They help us not to give up and enjoy life anyway. Even when your relatives and close people don’t believe in it, keep being positive about the future, and your love and happiness will find you! We do get the very best unless we think the opposite!
This is a really inspiring story! I am very glad that they were able to find each other. I think that this story can be an example for everyone who is looking for his soulmate ! I wish this couple always to be happy , healthy and lucky!
Ah, such a lovely story! So inspiring! I admire Svetlana for her power of will and strength, for sure, she deserves such a caring man like Shiloh. And I admire Shiloh even more, because he proves us that true and pure love is something more than just looks. Look at this couple – their eyes are beaming with love! This example actually teaches me not to give up in front of any obstacles on the way to love, because it doesn’t matter how many kilometers there’re in between me and the man I love, if it’s a destiny, we’ll be… Read more »