Lijuan is a research scientist at Ohio State University. I recently graduated law school and I’m a Staff Sergeant in the Tennessee Air National Guard. Our match was created on eHarmony on 15 March 2004. We started communicating that day. In April I went on active duties orders for training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. We continued to communicate while I was there.  

We had our first phone call in May. It was a little frightening, but our email communications up to that time had been so positive and reinforcing that overcoming the trepidation was easy. After that we talked almost every day. 

We met for the first time on the 19th of June 2004. I flew to Cleveland’s airport from St Louis, where Lijuan met me for the ride down to Wooster. We spent the day at the local Arboretum and touring her flower garden, where I tried to repair a leak in her water garden (we later discovered that my effort had failed).  

Returning to Missouri the next day was too soon for both of us, so when my training finished in July I drove back to Wooster and spent a week with Lijuan, meeting friends, digging her a brand new water garden, and even attending a wedding!  

In September 2004 I moved to Wooster to be closer to Lijuan. On 15 March 2005, one year after our match was created on eHarmony, we got engaged.    

Lijuan & I were married on 1 June 07 in a military wedding ceremony conducted at the Secrest Arboretum's Rose Garden on the Ohio Agricultural Research & Development Center (OARDC) campus. My son, Second Lieutenant, United States Marine Corps, was my best man. He and four other Marines from Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia drove up to perform the military honors. We are so thankful for everything you’ve done for us.  

Sincerely,  

Rick & Lijuan