Liliana and Federico Bernabe Jr., aren’t the only married couple on the Seward campus, but they do have an unexpected twist in their story: when they met face-to-face for the first time, they had been dating for nearly seven months. Liliana and Federico, better known as Lily and Junior, met in July 2009 on an online dating website. They talked through the website for a few days, before Junior finally asked Lily for her phone number. “Right off the bat, we both felt a connection that made us feel like we knew each other from our childhood days,” Lily remembered. After texting each other day and night, they found out that they were both from Arvin, Calif., although Junior’s family had moved to Liberal while Lily still resided in the small California town. On Aug. 23, 2009, Junior officially asked Lily out, but she told him she needed time to consider the distance and if they would be able to make it work. Five days later, he had an answer: Lily told him yes. In March 2010, Junior and his father and brother traveled from Liberal, to Arvin, Calif. (a trip of 1,172 miles) to meet Lily for the first time. As Lily waited for her boyfriend to arrive, her friends kept fueling her doubts. They thought that Junior would not be anything like he appeared to be, or worse he wouldn’t show up at all. Eventually, Junior arrived and the couple hugged. “When we hugged, everything felt so perfect,” Lily said. Finally, after nearly eight months of continuously speaking either via text message or computer, the couple went on their first date. Junior remembers that he sat on the same side with Lily in the booth of the restaurant they went to, because he didn’t want to be away from her for one second. After a three hour first date, Junior had to return to Liberal with his father and brother. After meeting for the first time, Lily and Junior kept planning when they would see each other again. However, Junior had a certain question to ask Lily. On December 13, 2010, Junior proposed to Lily over the phone. Though she was initially shocked, eventually she answered and told him that yes, she would marry him. Junior’s parents made the plan to once again travel to California so that he could officially ask for Lily’s hand in marriage. Junior and his family arrived on Jan. 6, but Liliana had yet to tell her parents that her boyfriend was going to be in town. Right before he and his family arrived, about 30 minutes before, Lily finally told her parents that her boyfriend was going to come visit her. They all talked for several minutes and that’s when he officially asked her to marry him. Liliana recalls her parents being shocked. They couldn’t believe Junior had actually come all that way to propose to Lily. Although Lily’s parents tried to convince Lily to wait a couple months to be married, Liliana was stubborn and didn’t want to wait to be married. On the following morning, Jan. 7, 2011, Lily and Junior were married in Bakersfield, Calif. “As soon as I got home with my parents, I started packing,” Lily said. On Jan. 8, Lily, Junior, and his parents headed back to Liberal. Lily and Junior will celebrate their eight month anniversary on Oct. 8. They currently live with Junior’s parents and they are both majoring in business administration. In the future, they plan to transfer to Fort Hays State University. Once they have graduated from Fort Hays, they would like to start a family of their own. “The best thing about being married for us would be that we could count on each other whenever we need someone,” Liliana said. “Doesn’t matter what it is; we always have one another.”