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Are you in a long-distance relationship? Are you happily married as a result from a long-distance relationship that worked? Do you have any long-distance horror stories? Were you in Iceland when the volcano errupted? Were your flight plans delayed because of the volcano? Were you waiting for someone to come home to you?

Then we want to hear from YOU!
Leave a comment, or email me, veronicalblake@gmail.com

Reunion waits for the ash to settle

Their relationship survived across the span of the Atlantic Ocean. But Mother Nature had other plans for their reunion.
Hannah Beck, 22, met 24-year-old Edgar van der Meer, at Taylor Statten Camps in Algonquin Park in July 2008. Their relationship bloomed throughout the summer. When Beck returned home to Toronto and van der Meer to the Netherlands, they decided to give a long-distance relationship a try. Despite the distance, they feel they know one another better than most other couples.
“When you’re in a long-distance relationship, you’re forced to get to know each other emotionally and psychologically and mentally, instead of having the physical side to distract you,” Beck said.
Van der Meer proposed to Beck last October. They plan to marry next April. He packed up his life in the Netherlands to move to Toronto for good. But a volcanic eruption in Iceland caused an ash cloud that spread into Western Europe. The ash cloud reduces visibility and could also cause plane engines to shut down. Airports across the globe canceled flights in and out of the UK.
“I went to the airport… and stood in line for about two hours. Got told, ‘sorry, we can’t re-book you,’” Van der Meer said. “So I went to another airline and asked how many seats were available… I called United right away… and said, ‘they told me that there are 114 seats, can you please get me on that flight?’”
The couple speaks daily on the phone and through Skype. They make the trek to see one another for a week at a time, every four months. After waiting nearly two years to be in the same city, let alone the same continent, a simple flight delay should be easy for the couple.
“Everybody’s like, ‘well at least he’s not just coming to visit, at least he’s coming to stay.’ But you want him to be here now, you don’t want to wait,” Beck said. “It’s been an emotional roller coaster because you don’t know if you should get excited.”
Beck and van der Meer reunited Apr. 20 when he got on one of the first planes out of the Netherlands. Van de Meer will return to Taylor Statten Camps for the summer, while recent nursing graduate Beck goes on the job hunt.
“We’ve been waiting for this for about two years now,” Beck said. “He met me when I was in sweatpants and no make-up, so I feel no pressure with (him).”

Biography and geography

Click on the map to enlarge!

Edgar Van Der Meer
Edgar was born in Bermuda in 1985. When he was 11 years old, the family packed up and moved to the Netherlands. He would spend the summers of his youth in Northern Ontario at the cottage of a family friend.
In the summer of 2007 he worked at Taylor Statten Camps in Algonquin park...

Meanwhile...

Hannah Beck
Hannah was born in Pennsylvania in 1987. When she was 5 years old, her family moved to Toronto. When she was 18, she moved with her parents to Germany. She stayed in Germany for a year, before returning to Toronto for university.

That fateful summer
In the summer of 2008, Edgar returned to the camp, and Hannah attended for her first time. They developed a relationship at camp, that they decided to continue after the summer.

Long distance...
Skype. Facebook. Texting. Large telephone bills. Flights to Europe.
The couple would talk everyday, but were only able to see one another for a week at a time, every four months. In October 2009 Edgar proposed to Hannah, on a spontaneous trip to Toronto.

Today... and the future...
Edgar arrived in Toronto April 20, 2010. He will return to Taylor Statten camps this summer. Hannah and Edgar are planning their wedding for April 2011.

What in the heck is Eyjafjallajokull??

See the eruption in photos.

The evacuation and the science here.

And the resulting flight delays.

Or, watch the live footage.

Today, it's business as usual as the ash settles.

Hannah pines for her love.

Hannah Beck, 22, waits to be reunited with her fiance, Edgar van der Meer. His flight was delayed, then canceled because of the ash-clouds from the volcano in Iceland. He sent her flowers, with the promise that he'd be home before the flowers wilted.


Hannah and I met on a lovely, sunny afternoon. We chatted about Edgar, love, marriage, and everything else in between.

This interview was conducted April 19th, the day before Edgar landed in Toronto.

Click here to watch the video.

Rare moments together, caught on film

Christmas 2009 - another airport embrace


Summer 2008 - when it all began


Summer 2008 - love blooms in the camp infirmary


Christmas 2008 - airport reunion - 1st time together after meeting at camp


Summer 2009 - anniversary and reunion


Summer 2009 - back at the camp where it all begun


October 2009 - Moments before he popped the question - at the CN Tower 360 restaurant


Christmas 2009 in Germany

Just waiting in an airport in the Netherlands

When Edgar studied aviation law, I bet he never thought that he would put his knowledge to use to reschedule flight after flight to reunite with his fiancee in Canada.

Click here to hear our conversation.
He was at the airport in the Netherlands, anxiously awaiting a flight set to board in an hour. We chatted via Skype April 20th.

Click here to hear about jumping through hoops to get a flight.
Click here to hear how Edgar and Hannah first met.

The foundation of any relationship lies on your Facebook wall

How do you keep the fire burning when an ocean separates you from your loved one? Facebook.
Relive Hannah and Edgar's relationship, from the beginning, in Facebook status updates.

Click here for a truly modern love story.
Note: Hannah uses her middle name, Joy, on Facebook.

Final note on a long-distance love story

Hannah and I met in September of 2008, shortly after she met Edgar. Perhaps I am skeptical and jaded, but I did not have much hope for their cross-Atlantic, long-distance relationship.
Now after almost two years of dating on Skype, commuting to Europe and months apart, Hannah and Edgar are finally together.
It's such an interesting love story of two globetrotters. They both say they don't believe in fate. But for a boy born in Bermuda, living in the Netherlands to meet a girl born in the States, living in Canada at a random summer camp in Algonquin park, that's really something.
The couple have been through so many obstacles to be together. Now they're planning and preparing for this next chapter of their lives; domesticity.
Ash clouds and volcanoes be damned. This is a love story for the ages.

Thanks to Hannah and Edgar for being so open and sharing their story with the world.
Also, much thanks for photos courtesy of Hannah Beck.