Abby and Derron recently got in touch to let us know what it has been a whole decade since they met on MySingleFriend. And what a decade it’s been for them - they’ve married, had children and gone on some amazing travelling adventures together as a family. Abby and Derron were kind enough to fill us in on all the wonderful things that have happened to them since they both made that fateful first click.
“When joined the site, online dating it was a fairly new concept,” Abby writes. “I thought it was for people who couldn’t meet someone in real life, to be honest. I agreed to try it out because the profile my friend wrote for me was really very thoughtful. I distinctly remember the expression on my mother in law’s face when I told her we had met online; I thought she was going to spit out her tea. To her credit she kept her composure and I’d like to think there are no reservations anymore!
“From talking to friends now, I would say there are some sites I would consider to be for people looking for love, and a lot for people looking for a hook up. What I did appreciate from my own experience was getting to know my now husband as a friend first. We would chat and talk for hours, in the weeks leading up to our first date... It really broke down those walls and that connection is what we built our love on, as opposed to perhaps something more fleeting and elusive.
For our first date we agreed to meet for lunch. In my mind I thought, if he’s a total creep I can always escape with the excuse that I have to rush back to work. It was a week day and as it so happens my boss was a bit of a doctrinaire to the rule book when it came to leisurely lunch hours. I ran from Soho to Covent Garden where he had booked an extravagant French restaurant which sadly no longer exists. I think he liked the fact I had to run. In heels. And a pencil skirt. Ha! We discovered that we had more than I realised in common and he did most of the talking, I could tell it was nerves which I found endearing and just a little flattering. I rushed back to the office and straight away pinged him a message about how much I enjoyed the lunch, he appreciated my ‘refreshing candidness’ (I think it was naivety more than anything but he was grateful I wasn’t out to play the game). He asked if we could continue for drinks later that day. Of course I agreed. We went to Galvin at Windows in Mayfair and the rest is history.
“ We married in May 2010 in Phuket, Thailand. We are both originally from Australia- and before you jump to conclusions, no, It was not one of my requirements to meet an Aussie, just pure serendipitous fortune, depending on which way you look at it! We have a firm base here in London, having both spent many, many years here, so there was no obvious choice for wedding destination. We decided to invite everyone, and ‘the important people would show up’.
“Well, they called our bluff and we had over 100 guests with a week of holidaying prior to the big day full of fun and island hopping surrounded by friends and family before the big day as we had arranged to all booked villas in the same resort. We asked guests for donations as our honeymoon plans took us to Cambodia to visit some local orphanages where we donated school and sports supplies, and then on to Vietnam for some more exploring.
“Shortly after our wedding, my husband made the leap of acquiring a new business, venturing out on his own. It was a tumultuous and uncertain time, that required (and still requires) not only his dedication, but my absolute support. A leap of faith for both of us. I admire him greatly for his strength and perseverance, but it has not been without hardship. Within a year of our wedding we welcomed our first born, a daughter Ariana. I made the tough decision to stay at home with her, raising a family away from family is not always easy! When she was three we welcomed another daughter Penelope. Quite unexpectedly, but to our delight, we welcomed our boy Theodore 22 months later.
“We continued to make the most of the proximity to Europe and enjoy travelling with our little family, including our two pups who are no longer with us. We have taken them on many adventures including France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Denmark, Bali, Australia, Greece, Croatia, Slovakia, Czech Republic, U.S.A and many more. We love to travel, despite the logistics of doing so with a young family, it is the bond of shared memories that enriches our love.”
We’d like to say a huge thank you to Abby and Derron for sharing their story with us and wish the whole family best wishes for the future!
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