My beautiful fiancée Elena is a Flight Attendant and I am a Pilot who both fly the friendly skies for the same airline . We met during Thanksgiving of 2005 while we were on a long layover enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner at The Hilton in St. Petersburg, Florida. Being that Elena lived in Los Angeles and I here in Frederick, we dealt with the challenges of a long distance relationship (2635 miles by car and somewhat less by air). She would arrange her schedule to layover in Washington, D.C. and I would arrange mine to layover in Los Angeles. This coast -to-coast predicament would go on for three years. Elena is Russian and grew up inside of the Arctic Circle in Siberia, so I felt it respectful to learn Russian (Thanks Pimsluer Language program!). Also out of respect, I wanted to honor Russian tradition and ask for her parents’ permission to marry her….in Russia! Time was a factor since Elena’s mother’s health was poor. After I was finally able to obtain a Russian visa, we flew to Yekaterinburg, Russia (deep in the heart of Siberia) in April 2008. After two days of flying and traversing ten time zones, we finally arrived. During our ten days there I went sightseeing, enjoyed Russian cuisine, met Elena’s family, and froze. It actually snowed on May 2nd! It was on our last full day that I readied myself to ask for their permission… in Russian! I set the stage by serving champagne and caviar for the occasion. My request came out perfectly and they were stunned (hopefully by the fact that I asked in Russian and not by the temerity of the question itself). Through tears of joy (mostly her father’s) I received their blessing. Back to the states and on to the next phase of our courtship. At the end of June I accompanied Elena on her trip to Sydney, Australia. With the ring having been purchased some time ago, it was time to officially propose. I chose to do so in the Botanical Gardens overlooking Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) and the famous Sydney Opera House just before sunset. Fate smiled on me once again as my proposal came off as planned….in not-so-perfect English this time. (Of course she said yes!) In late September she put in for her transfer to Washington, D.C. and was set to move in mid November. Unfortunately, my father suffered a major stroke on November 3rd and was hospitalized at Johns-Hopkins. Still packing for the move; Elena dropped everything to catch the first flight to Baltimore to be with me, my father, and the rest of the family. Miraculously, she arrived soon enough to spend some time with Dad. She thanked him for having me and raising me to be who I am today . She also promised him that she would look after and take care of me the rest of my life. That was the same promise I’d made to her parents just six months earlier. My beloved father passed away just three days later. We rescheduled our cross country dive to move her belongs for later in November so as to arrive before Thanksgiving to celebrate our three year anniversary and the life of my dad. The past few months have found Elena adjusting to somewhat cooler temperatures than that to which she’d become accustomed in L.A. We are eagerly looking forward to exchanging our wedding vows this year and spending the rest of our lives together…which still doesn’t seem long enough. If the contest prize is awarded to the couple who loves each other the most, then look no further; here we are……Charlie & Elena forever. Good luck to all who have entered this contest. As long as we have found our perfect partner and soul-mate, we have won what is most important already.