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He mailed a shoebox to the Philippines. 11 years later, he’s warned when he gets a message from a girl

It’s a love story, 14 years in the making, and it all started with a shoebox and a photograph.

A young farm boy, Tyrel Wolfe, made a Christmas care package and it ended up in the hands of a young girl named Joana Marchan.
All Joana’s remembers from the shoebox is a picture of Tyrel, which she still has today.

The shoebox had a big impact on Joana and her family. So, Joana set out to find the boy on Facebook.

Joana found Tyrel and sent him a friend request. After Tyrel noticed he had a friend request, he messaged the woman and asked, “How do you know me?”

Joana mentioned the group that helped organize the care packages, but Tyrel didn’t remember much because he was only 6-7 years old. He knew he had participated, and that’s when Joana told him, “I think I got your box.”

Tyrel couldn’t believe it, and his parents were skeptical. But, then Joana explained the photo that was in the box, in detail. After that, their friendship grew.

Eventually, Tyrel saved up enough money, to go visit Joana. When they finally met in person, the rest was history. They knew they didn’t find each other by chance.

It wasn’t long before the two wed.