It all started during Linh’s train ride home for the Lunar New Year (Tet) holidays in 2023 when her phone suddenly buzzed with 50 notifications from a dating app.
They led her to a mysterious profile featuring a photo of a man standing with his back to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, the U.S.
Curious, the 29-year-old woman from the central province of Quang Tri accepted the man’s friend request and learned his name was Son Le, an investment banker on Wall Street who was home in Da Nang City for Tet.
After a few conversations, Linh was intrigued by Son’s wit and agreed to meet, though it was only an hour since they first spoke.
Son Le and Linh Le on their trip to Da Lat during the Tet holiday in 2023. Photo courtesy of Son |
Their first meeting was at a beachside pub in Da Nang, where the two quickly found themselves lost in conversation. From childhood memories to dreams and challenges, they talked about everything.
Despite growing up in a family of finance professionals, Linh had a deep love for nature and a passion for “healing” people.
The work experiences her family members shared helped Linh understand the pressures Son faced working in the world’s financial capital.
Linh used to study in Florida in the U.S. but returned to Vietnam due to the instability and loneliness she had encountered in the U.S. To her family, this decision was a failure, but Son, who overcame obstacles to succeed on Wall Street, empathized with her struggles.
“I realized Linh was brave and willing to break social norms to follow her passions,” the 32-year-old Son says.
Son approached love with a similar meticulousness as he did his work, and for him choosing a life partner was like making a high-stakes investment.
He considered five “connections” to find the right person: spiritual link, emotional attachment, communication, future vision, and family bonds.
“With Linh, I felt an immediate warmth and comfort,” he says.
They ended up talking for seven hours, from evening until 6 a.m.
As they parted, Linh received a call from her mother about a new school in New York with promising scholarship offers. She was astonished by the timing and wondered if destiny was bringing her closer to Son.
Three days after their first meeting, Son was ready to confess his feelings for her but hesitated because he had never dated someone born in the “Year of the Pig,” often thought to be too sentimental.
Before officially becoming a couple, they even sought advice from a numerologist in France and a fortune teller in Vietnam.
“On the same day both of them told us we had found the right person,” Son says
 |
Son travels to Da Lat to visit Linh during the early days of their relationship in 2023. Photo courtesy of Son |
Fate seemed to intervene at every step. A week later Son was on a pilgrimage with his family in Phu Lang, Quang Tri, and was searching for a restaurant.
Linh called her uncle nearby for help and was surprised to learn her relatives were also in the area for a family gathering. They invited Son’s family to join them, creating an unexpected but consequential gathering.
Linh’s mother was struck by how much Son resembled her youngest Son, and the family was impressed by his intelligence and self-made success.
Meanwhile, Linh felt her heart race, stunned by the coincidences. That Lunar New Year Son flew to HCMC to meet more of Linh’s family. Within 10 days Linh and Son went from strangers to partners with their families considering each other in-laws.
In July that year, the couple reunited in the U.S. after being apart for six months. Linh enrolled in a university in Middletown, an hour’s drive away from Son, who was working in New York.
 |
Son proposes to Linh outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York in November 2023. Photo courtesy of Son |
They started a design company and prepared to launch a project focused on products that help connect people, much like how destiny had brought them together.
On a summer weekend in New York, while visiting some of its iconic landmarks, Son got down on one knee with a ring and asked Linh to marry him.
Their wedding was a simple but intimate ceremony in a small chapel, attended by Linh’s parents and Son’s relatives.
Reflecting on their whirlwind romance, Son says: “If not for destiny, how could we talk for seven hours on our first date, fall in love in three days, and meet each other’s families only one week later?”
Comments are closed.