Story of two Lovebirds

(Tina and Antonio)

There are usually two ways of telling a story: the long and the short one, depending on when in the past one looks for the starting event. In "our" short version, it all started in 1996, when approximately at the same time, both Tina and I joined the IW FAQ Mailing List. Tina, from Denmark and IW Breeder, I from Italy and dogless for the last 30 years after the tragical death of my first very own dog, a Dalmatian.

After seeing the picture of an IW on a webpage, I fell in love with the Gentle Giants and with a little navigating found the IW FAQ Webpage and subscribed. Tina and I got really in touch when one of her Hounds died, in late 1996, and I made and sent her a picture of the "Rainbow Bridge". One thing led to another, we started mailing to each other, and when Tina told me that she was going to breed Belinda, I asked if I could have a pup from that litter. Eventually my request was accepted, and our emails -and chat- started escalating both in frequency, lenght and content... When, after the whelping I took a trip to Denmark to see my Huan -it was June 1997- Tina and I were already in love, but we had never met in real life... I remember looking for her at Kopenhagen's airport... I was soo nervous... -later she confessed that she was nervous too- but when I finally spotted her I felt, deep in my heart, that my life would be different from then on. In July I drove all the way from Italy to Denmark -2000 Km- to bring Huan home, and ended up by moving the whole kennel, Breeder included :-). Both my Mom and my daughter Flavia (who now is 21, from my short previous marriage) were very happy that I had found love after such a long time, and both love Tina and the wolfhounds very much -Flavia calls them "her furry brothers and sisters")

We were overwhelmed by the collective hug we received from the people all over the world that we had met on the IW List... and now that two other couples -Willeke and Ron, Pauline and John- have found each other on the List, we share their special bond and wish them the same happines we are experiencing.

Three years have passed, and our love is growing. It isn't always that easy, we come from very different cultures and habits... Little quarrels now and then, but in the end there's a deep mutual understanding and a tremendous love for our four-legged kids. We plan to move to Denmark and buy a small farm there, as the climate here in Central Italy is maybe a bit too hot for the kids. There will be ample room for guests, of course... It's always a special event when we happen to meet in real life the friends we are meeting each day in cyberspace.

We both feel honoured that our cyber-friend Deborah has made such a wonderful piece of art thinking of our love-story... Giving it to IWIT as a fundraiser has been most generous of her and we wish her and all the people who will get "The Lovebirds" all the best :-))

Antonio & Tina & the Hounds