Audrey Lancho – Real Life Romance – Part 1 of 1

I’m thirty-six, and my husband Jonathan is nearing forty, but fifteen years ago, we were young and bright-eyed college students. And, on one cold February day, our paths crossed and our lives changed forever.

I’d done the “college life” thing, and I was over it. Raised in church, I’d cooled off in my faith my first few years of college. A string of breakups with sub-par guys had me feeling pretty crummy. So, when junior year rolled around and I got the opportunity to study abroad, I took it. In the first divine-intervention moment, I randomly chose a town in Spain. No reason I chose it, I just did!

Around that time, I was invited to a beach retreat where I rekindled my faith in Jesus Christ. I felt like I’d been renewed from the inside out! I was even more ready to go to Spain, that is, until a friend who’d been to the same town told me how hard it was to make friends in that particular area. You see, Spanish people grew up in small villages and were pushed through the same school systems and such––they had tight friend groups since birth, which were often hard to infiltrate as a newcomer.

What I wanted more than anything was to make friends with real Spaniards, not other Americans. This friend said that the way around this was to attend a Christian church. I hadn’t thought that was an option in Europe, so I hadn’t looked into it, but she gave me the name and number of a local pastor and I wrote him to introduce myself––oh yeah, and get someone to pick me up and drive me to where I was staying! Kinda important! The things twenty-one year olds fail to plan for!

The pastor assured me he’d send someone to pick me up, so I was no longer worried about that. Fast forward to January 31st. In North Carolina we had a massive snowstorm that day, but my flight wasn’t canceled. My dad got his big old truck and drove me two hours to the airport. I flew to Philadelphia and had a layover, then flew on a red-eye to Madrid, Spain. By God’s hand, I hailed taxis, got to the bus station, and ended up where I was supposed to go, napping along the way, because red-eye flights are brutal.

When I arrived at the bus station with my suitcases, the very first moment of doubt crept in. “Who is here for me? I’m exhausted––how am I going to get to my hotel?” Just then a young man in a beret-style caddy hat and a green sweater approached me holding a sign with my picture on it that read WELCOME TO SPAIN! The young man introduced himself as Jonathan––a born-and-raised Spaniard with an English name. He gave me a hug, which he now says was stiff and distanced, but in my defense, I didn’t know this guy! With endless energy, Jonathan whisked me to his car and to my hotel, where he made sure my bags were with me and I could connect to the internet to email my family and let them know I was okay. There were no smart phones back then. 

He promised to pick me up the next morning, and he did, but my apartment fell through. Luckily, his mom let me stay in her guestroom for a few nights until I found a place to live. I don’t know what I would have done without his wonderful family helping me those first few days.

Jonathan and I grew as friends the five months I studied in Spain. I prayed to the Lord, asking him if there was something more there. I felt it, but did Jonathan? He was handsome and around my age. We got along great. And I started to realize how this seemingly random trip wasn’t random at all, but rather, had God’s handiwork printed all over it.

I did admit my budding feelings to Jonathan, but he was a bit more mature than I was. He told me that we should just stay friends and see how things progress over time. So, I left Spain for North Carolina with a different mindset. But, when I returned home and we experienced our first separation after five months of daily friendship, we realized we both loved each other. And at that time, a lifelong, soulmate relationship was born.

After trips back and forth, we married in December 2011 and settled first in Spain, and later in North Carolina with our two little boys––happily ever after!

Question for Readers: Like my main character, Farrah, have you ever had to make a life-changing decision that set you on a completely different path than the one you first envisioned?

About Audrey: Audrey Lancho is the author of uplifting historical and contemporary clean romance and romcoms, including the Love and Lies at Mannerley Victorian romance series, and Someone Else’s Christmas. Audrey lives in North Carolina with her Spaniard husband and two young sons, is bilingual in Spanish, and enjoys church, time with friends, yoga, her kids’ sporting events, and funny movies. She’s a freelance fiction editor, a job which she does from home while trying to remember to transfer the washed clothes to the dryer. When she’s not writing or editing, you’ll find her doing crochet or a jigsaw puzzle. Learn more & connect: