She was sitting next to me on the plane, flying to meet her online boyfriend. They met online several months before and this would be their second weekend together. She called him her “fiance” but said there would be no wedding even though he had asked her to marry him.
The wedding might not take place but this weekend was to be their honeymoon. I asked why there wouldn’t be a wedding and she explained that her boyfriend’s parents told him he couldn’t marry her.
Her boyfriend, a resident of another country, said his parents told him he had to marry someone from his own ethnic background. They objected to him marrying a woman who was outside of his race not to mention someone who was older and divorced with children. Despite this, she spent money on plane fare to meet her online lover for a weekend together.
I asked if she had any thoughts about the future of the relationship and she said she hoped he would “change his mind.” She thought with enough time together he would go against his parents’ wishes. I seriously doubt that will happen but she’s too caught up in wishful thinking to consider anything else.
The possibility, of course, is that her boyfriend may have several women who hope he’ll “change his mind.” Or he may already have a wife in his native land, or a serious girlfriend, one his parents approve of.
Perhaps this man is unique and really cares for this woman. Unfortunately, the cyber world makes it very easy for someone to say whatever it takes to keep a lover or two willing to settle for a weekend “honeymoon” when they have no intention of going through with the marriage.