Our Story — Two Worlds One Love

This is a story of a love that bloomed into a magnificent rose against all odds.

In May 2018, Jay’s and Alaina’s worlds beautifully collided via the dating app ChristianMingle. They were both looking for their special someone, but had no idea how beautiful of a love story was coming their way.

At the time, Jay was working for a tech company in the Bay Area and Alaina was working for a university in Boston. In their early conversations, Alaina shared how she grew up in the rural town of Sedro-Woolley, Washington and Jay shared of his childhood growing up on the other side of the world—in the bustling city of Coimbatore, South India. They came to learn that their world was much smaller than they thought—as they both graduated from the University of Washington and had friends from the same church in Seattle.

Shortly after they met online, Jay relocated to his company’s office in Bangalore, India. It seemed daring and crazy to keep talking when two oceans and all of Africa separated them, but they just couldn’t stop. While they were thousands of miles apart, the truth is that they were beyond smitten with each other and would spend countless hours writing emails for the other person to read when they woke up on their side of the world.

Over thousands of WhatsApp messages, lengthy phone calls, emails, and many letters that crossed the 8,000-mile journey between them, Jay and Alaina slowly, but most definitely, fell in love. It was beautiful and miraculous.

In late 2019, Jay moved to Canada — and their first in-person date seemed to be just on the horizon! However, just weeks later, the pandemic hit and the border was closed for two and a half years.

And yet, their sweet love still found a way to bloom.

In the months to come, Jay surprised Alaina with UberEats dinner deliveries from P.F. Chang’s (her favorite spicy chicken!), with Nutella crepes from a French bakery, with a frozen frappe with chocolate hearts in the cup, with a pizza that said “I love you” in the box lid, and with gorgeous roses for Valentine’s Day. He continued to romance Alaina with written letters and long emails, always optimistic that God had a plan for them to meet in person one day soon.

In return, Alaina surprised Jay with “I love you” cupcakes, croissant deliveries, coffee table books on the breathtaking places they wanted to explore together in Quebec, and with a mini Christmas tree with all the cute trimmings for his apartment. She sent him cards and letters with far too many sparkly heart stickers, and would make him smile with her cute and silly photos of herself and of her beloved cat, Prince William.

“The truth is…when I read her bio, I felt in my heart she is meant for me.”

— Jay

Long distance love with no clear end in sight weighed heavy at times on the couple. They knew that they were so beautifully brought together, had become the best of friends, and sincerely loved one another—but the prolonged border closure put all their plans for a future together on hold.

However, in June 2022, a new momentum changed their lives forever. Jay and Alaina became determined to meet in person no matter what. They had been falling in love for four years and wanted to finally know the joy of seeing each other face to face. They began strategizing, looking for every angle of where they could meet (taking Covid restrictions and visa requirements into account). They seriously considered Mexico, the Bahamas, and even Tel Aviv. They eventually discovered that Covid restrictions had been lifted between the United States and India, which would allow them to meet up and make their years-long dream come true.

Alaina’s parents immediately offered to accompany her on this grand adventure to India. They put aside a thousand fears and questions about traveling so far during the pandemic and only saw the tremendous beauty of the moment—of how precious this opportunity would be for Jay and Alaina.

In November 2022, the Douglass family trio courageously traveled from Seattle to Coimbatore (3 planes and over 24 hours each way). As they walked outside of the terminal in Coimbatore, Jay stood there waiting in a black suit, with a bouquet of pink roses in hand. For Alaina, it was a Cinderella story with Pride and Prejudice wonder all at once. Over the next 8 days, the Douglass family and the Easwaran family had the wonderful joy of getting to know one another—sharing countless laughs, warm memories, and delicious Indian meals across the city. By the end of their life-changing trip, everyone agreed that Jay and Alaina’s love was definitely real and truly exquisite.

“I knew he was extra special when I received surprise roses and chocolates at my office, one month after we started talking online.”

— Alaina

The happy couple soon learned the incredible news about the reopening of the U.S.-Canadian border, and they planned multiple trips to see each another. After five years of waiting, words cannot describe how amazing it was for Jay and Alaina to enjoy the simple things together—taking walks to get ice cream, going grocery shopping and laughing in the sweet potato aisle, and holding hands while watching TV on the couch. Every one of those moments had been longed for and was cherished.

During one extra special trip to Ottawa in June 2023, Jay took Alaina on a scenic boat cruise along the historic Rideau Canal. After finding the most perfect cotton tree along the canal, with a lovely canopy of wispy branches touching the ground, Jay asked Alaina to come sit under the tree to enjoy the view around them. After some time, he took out a thick packet that contained all the letters and cards Alaina had sent him over the past five years. As they sat together, he went through them, pointing out special details from each one. After they finished, he asked her to stand under the tree canopy facing toward the river, so he could take an artistic photo. She faced the other way and waited for him to take the photo. He suddenly told her to turn around and she was in awe to find him down on one knee, holding out a blue Tiffany & Co. box in his hand.