My teenage pen-pal turned into my soulmate

A woman says she lived out a 'rom-com' romance after she married her teenage pen pal. 

Helene Clynch, 42, from North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, never expected to find love when she began writing to a boy in the UK through her school, at just 13-years-old.

The stay-at-home mother began exchanging heartfelt letters with Geoff, now 42, from the Hampshire, though the two had no idea what each other looked like.

As their relationship blossomed through letters, they began speaking on the phone and after sending more personalised notes, quickly realised that they had fallen in love with one another.

Cementing their relationship forever, the couple got married and went on to have three children, who they now live with in their home in Merseyside.

'Looking back, we realise how unlikely it is that pen-pals in different countries go on to marry each other – let alone still be together after all these years,' Helene said. 

'It feels like the odds were stacked against us at times, but we're just as madly in love now as we were back then. It's like a rom-com come to life.'

Helene was just 13 when she signed up for the scheme, but while many pen-pals drifted away, Geoff and his wife-to-be only grew fonder for each other.

Because of Geoff's 'old-fashioned poet' way of writing, she was quickly swept off her feet – but struggled to come to terms with her feelings about a boy she had never met.

After speaking on the phone for the first time, they sent tapes back and forth, and on their initial meeting shared their first kiss.

She said: 'My heart fluttered whenever I heard from him. It was so hard to explain my emotions. I even put on some lipstick, kissed a piece of paper and sent it to him.

'But when I first saw him, he ran up to me and kissed me – in that moment, my nerves melted away.

'While there was a slight language barrier, we quickly worked it out.

'When he had to leave, I was heartbroken. I think our dads were, too, as they even bonded over drinking.'

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Over the next few years, the pair flew back and forth between the UK and Germany, losing friends along the way who couldn't understand their whirlwind romance.

Then, when Helene was 17, things became official.

She said: 'Geoff blurted out on the phone day: 'Will you marry me?'

'I was stunned, but before he could hang up, I said yes. Weeks later, he dropped onto one knee and asked me officially on New Year's Eve.

'Six months later, I made the move permanently to the UK. It was daunting to be away from my family, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.'

Now, they're a happy family of five, including their daughter, Maya, 19 and their two sons, 16 and 13.

They hope to share their unique love story to encourage others to ditch technology and find their soulmate the old fashioned way.

She added: 'Each year has been filled with even more happiness than the last. Our children love the story of how we met.

'Without technology, it made it so much more magical.

'I can't believe how lucky we are to have shared so much of our lives together – even if miles apart.

'It can be scary doing long-distance, but if you want it to work, then it will.

'Some people scoff at long-distance relationships and teenage romance, but we're proof that these kinds of relationships can really last,' she said.