A Typo Spells Romance For RP Salazars

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This is the story of a romance that began with a typo. In 2007, Rachel Salazar was living in Bangkok, Thailand, and Ruben Salazar was in Waco, Texas. Their email addresses were nearly identical.

One morning, Ruben checked his email, and he found a note intended for someone else. "I discovered it said RP Salazar followed by two numbers," he says. "I figured, 'Hey, my email is the same exact thing without the numbers, so they probably sent it to the wrong person."

Ruben, 39, noticed that this other RP Salazar was in Bangkok, so when he forwarded the email, he added his own little message. "Something to the effect of 'Hi, Rachel, it seems as if this message came to me instead of you. I'm in Waco, Texas, U.S.A. Have a great day. P.S. How's the weather there in Bangkok?'"

Rachel, 44, is originally from the Philippines but was living in Thailand at the time. For her, that first email exchange on Jan. 10, 2007, started it.

"Then every conversation that we had right from the get-go was just natural," she says.

Ruben was excited that here was a person who was halfway around the world, but he could still tell her things. "It's kind of like sending a letter in a bottle," he explains. He happened to hover his mouse over Rachel's name in an email, and her picture popped up. "I was like, 'Wow, she's really beautiful! How can I make this picture bigger?' " he says, laughing.

Rachel says Ruben started to play an important role in her life even before she consciously realized it. Ruben would stay up late, when it was morning for Rachel, and the two would chat for four or five hours.

"I knew that I was falling in love, but at the back of my mind there's still that tiny little bit of doubt that this might not work — we were 8,000 miles away from each other," says Rachel. "But at some point I finalized my plans to visit the U.S."

Ruben notes that Rachel didn't tell anyone. "Because everyone would tell me, 'You're foolish to go halfway across the world to meet some strange guy you have not met,' " she explains. "That would be crazy."

On Ruben's end, every relative, every friend, every co-worker knew.

Rachel's trip lasted eight days. They were dancing one night and Rachel told Ruben that he was the sweetest guy she'd ever met. At that moment Ruben knew he needed to say or do something so he didn't lose her.

"So I got on my knee and asked you to marry me," he says. He proposed on their sixth day together. Rachel says, "Deep in my heart I knew it was coming and it was the right thing and it was the best thing."

Ruben says that people didn't believe him, and some had their doubts. But, says Rachel, now they all tell us, 'You're perfect for each other. You found the right match.' "

Rachel and Ruben were married on Nov. 24, 2007.

Audio produced for Morning Edition by Jasmyn Belcher.