How we met: ‘We got chatting in an online word game – and fell in love’

arah never imagined that her online word-game addiction would become more than a hobby. But at the end of 2019 it led to an unexpected, long-distance love story. “I was living in Germany but spending a lot of time with my daughter in Switzerland,” says Sarah, who left the UK with her husband when she was 20. “She had had a third baby and needed some extra help. I’d also been widowed in 2018 and was still feeling a bit disoriented.

They felt drawn to each other as soon as they began to communicate. Martin was working in Adelaide, Australia, as a carer and living part-time with his teenage daughters from a previous marriage. “I just used the game to pass time after work,” he says. “But I noticed Sarah’s sense of humour was wonderful. We chatted on Words with Friends for about three months, before we moved to Facebook Messenger and started talking face-to-face through video.

They planned to meet in March 2020, but the pandemic robbed them of the chance to travel. Yet despite the difficulties the world was facing, their online relationship continued to grow. “It kept me going, as I was on my own in Germany,” says Sarah. “Having him to share things with was lovely. At the same time, it was frustrating because there comes a point where you just want to hold that person’s hand and be with them.

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