The Romance | The Family | The Wedding | The Reception | The Honeymoon
Last spring Barry announced that he and Cheryl Ybanez had been emailing back and forth for a few months and had become very good friends. Now he wanted to finally meet her. The trouble was that Barry lived in Los Angeles and Cheryl lived in the Philippines! Barry was born in South Africa, had served four years in the U.S. Navy stationed in the Mediterranean, and had traveled all over Europe. A friend in the Philippines didn't seem that extraordinary to him!
In May Barry took a few weeks' vacation and traveled to her city in Mindanao where he and Cheryl finally met. They hit it off beautifully and what had been friendship grew into love.
After returning to the U.S., he soon decided he could not live without her. In June Barry telephoned Cheryl's father to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage. When Mr. Ybanez gave his permission, Barry then asked Cheryl if she would marry him--and she said, "yes"! They set the date for December 28, 2008, and suddenly our whole family switched into preparation mode for a wedding in the Philippines!!