I said ‘yes!’ after just one date
On the spur of the moment, Amy Mappes, 31, had an important question to answer
Introducing me to his friend, my cousin Corey, 50, smiled. ‘This is Ryan, the guy I was telling you about,’ he said. Ryan and I got chatting and hit it off straight away.
He asked me out to dinner a few days later, and after that we quickly became a couple.
Within a few months, I fell pregnant with our first child.
I already had two kids – Terrance, now 12, and Rebecca, 10 – from a previous relationship.
‘I can’t wait to be a dad,’ Ryan beamed, as we shopped for nappies, clothes, and cute toys.
But our romance was shortlived, and eight months into the pregnancy, I realised just how unhappy I was with Ryan.
He was somewhat controlling and it wasn’t the way that I wanted myself or my kids to live our lives – so I ended things with him and we went our separate ways.
Our daughter Savannah, now nine, was born on 18 July 2010, and we agreed to co-parent her.
During my pregnancy, I had been playing a game on Facebook called
‘Café World’ which would distract me from my everyday life.
I got so addicted to the app, building up my café, and after a while, I got the option to join a closed group on Facebook which fans could be a part of.
All of the members would help each other out with their cafés, so when I got a friend request from someone in the group, it didn’t phase me.
Months passed, and out of the blue, I got a message.
I’m not playing Café World anymore, so you can remove me if you want, it read.
It was from Bryan Mappes – we’d both been mad about the game, but we’d never seen each other or spoken in real life before.
Don’t be silly, I replied.
We got talking, and I opened up to him about my kids and my past relationships.
Bryan confided in me, too – told me all about his unhappy marriage and how he was hoping to file for a divorce.
We began speaking every day, and although Bryan was 48 and I was 23, the age gap wasn’t noticeable, and we had a lot in common.
Where are you chatting to me from? Bryan asked early on.
Calgary, Canada, I replied. And you?
Minot, North Dakota – a good 700 miles away from you, he said.
Our ages, the distance, and the fact he wasn’t yet divorced didn’t bother me – I couldn’t help but start falling for Bryan. I realised I was
25 years between us didn’t matter
developing feelings for him when I couldn’t go a day without speaking to him.
Although, I didn’t let on until six months later, when Bryan told me that he loved me.
Eventually, he and his wife finalised their divorce.
I’m so happy – I want to meet you in person, Bryan said.
At first I was excited, but then the nerves hit me, as I’d never thought the relationship was ever going to go this far.
Bryan came to visit for a long weekend, stayed in a hotel.
When I met him at his hotel, I couldn’t believe it when I saw him in the flesh.
‘I can’t believe you’re really here,’ I said, squeezing him tight.
We spent the whole evening in his room – sipping red wine and talking about anything and everything – it was amazing.
The next day, Bryan met my three children and we went to a pumpkin patch, to the mall, and out for lunch.
Bryan was so great with the kids, and despite his age, he played with them and gave them all the attention they wanted.
The kids felt like they already knew Bryan, as they had always chimed in on our conversations via
Skype, and they accepted him like one of the family. My mum Tammy, 48, already knew about Bryan from the beginning and she could tell how excited I was for his visit, so offered to babysit for a night. I spent the night at Bryan’s hotel room, and in the morning we had breakfast before we said our goodbyes. As soon as he got back, I got a message from him.
Amy, would you move to North Dakota with me and start our lives together? he asked. At first, I was taken aback – after all, this was so fast!
But when I thought about it, I knew that all I wanted was to be with Bryan.
I kept going back and forth between the idea, until a few days later, Bryan asked me a lifechanging question.
‘I know this is over Skype, but I loved last weekend so much, that I realised I want to spend the rest of my life with you,’ he said. ‘Amy, will you marry me?’ He held up a ring to the camera. ‘Yes!’ I squealed, bursting into tears of joy.
I was so happy things were finally moving forward and I made the decision there and then to move to North Dakota.
I knew the next hurdle was telling my parents, which I was scared of, as I had no idea how they would react to such big news.
Mum and my dad William, 50, had met Bryan when he came to visit, and he and my dad had connected like best friends.
As there was only six years between them, they had lots in common and spoke the whole time about music, movies and games.
‘Mum, Dad, I have some news – Bryan and I are engaged and I’m moving to be with him,’ I announced, twiddling my thumbs.
There was a moment of silence before my dad ran over to me with open arms.
‘We’re so happy for you,’ he said as he hugged me.
They were upset that I was leaving, but happy that things with Bryan were progressing.
I was overjoyed at the response of my parents, but that quickly went away when I heard about how Bryan’s relatives reacted.
Bryan decided to take them out for dinner and break the news to them, but they weren’t impressed, and Bryan decided to cut ties with them then and there.
Despite this, I moved to North Dakota in April 2016, and within weeks, we tied the knot.
We got married at a port house and had just seven of our friends and family surrounding us to watch us say our vows.
As we said ‘I do’, I couldn’t have been happier.
Looking back on our relationship now, I was scared at first about how things would work.
But after meeting Bryan, something just felt right between us, like it was meant to be.
Our decision to get married was fast, but I have no regrets – I’ve never been happier.