Anastasiya was living in Darmstadt. Jake was in Derby, a town outside Wichita, Kansas. An ocean lay between them, and it did not get in the way: Jaroslavna introduced them in 2024, starting with a Zoom video call. After that they carried on by themselves — getting to know each other, talking openly about what mattered to them, making plans. They married in June 2025, and a year on they marked their first anniversary.
Anastasiya describes the new life plainly, without gloss: a real family means moving to another country, a culture that is not your own, and a period of adjusting to it. But when the person beside you is someone you trust, all of that becomes something you go through together.
“Thank you for bringing us together. Jake turned out to be a wonderful man. America is quite a challenge, but it is worth it.”— Anastasiya
