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How We Met: Lisa And Stephen

How We Met: Lisa And Stephen
Lisa and Stephen

Love. Ain't it grand? It comes in all shapes and sizes, and no two loves are the same.

The Huffington Post Australia celebrates love in all its forms with the How We Met series in the lead up to Valentine's Day.

Stephen Moore, 41, and Lisa Hollinshead, 31

How long have you been together?

Stephen: I met Lisa in July 2015

How did you meet?

Stephen: I was on the second leg of the lengthy trip home from Australia. The first part of the flight was nothing to write home about, but the second was to change my life forever. Whilst I was sat there watching people find their allocated seats, I spotted a beautiful blonde woman looking for hers -- I looked to the side of me and there were two empty seats! I was thinking and wishing that she would please be seated next to me. My wish came true when she was briefly sat next to me, but her mum got the seats wrong. Luckily, Lisa’s correct seat was not too far and we chatted and laughed for the 10 hour flight back to England.

Lisa: We met on a plane, of all places, in July last year after my mum sat us in the wrong seat on our connecting flight from Sydney to my home city of Manchester. The mistake led to a chance meeting with a handsome stranger, with a familiar accent. I found out his name was Stephen, he was 40 and from Liverpool -- where I had gone to university. After a number exchange and a text from Stephen a few days later, we proceeded to speak every day for two months.

What drew you to one another?

Stephen: If you meet Lisa you will quickly realise she thinks of other people before herself, which is a beautiful trait to have. She can also give me a run for my money when it comes to chatting, and it goes without saying, she is beautiful.

Lisa: His warmth and humour -- there was something about him that completely put me at ease and felt familiar. It helped that he was very good looking, too.

What do you like most about each other?

Stephen: The more you get to know Lisa, the more you realise that family and friends are very important to her, and there is nothing she wouldn’t do for each and everyone of them. I couldn’t be more proud to be having a child with Lisa, and look forward to all the adventures our family with have together.

Lisa: His heart, his warmth and his sense of humour. The same as the first day I met him, only I’ve realised that this is who he genuinely is. He also makes me feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the world, always putting me first. The fact that he’s packing up his whole life to move to Sydney to be with me speaks volumes about the kind of person he is.

What is your favourite memory?

Stephen: We both stayed in Vietnam for Christmas, and one night we had a lovely meal by the beach. Whilst we waited for our meal to arrive Lisa said something so funny that the pair of us couldn’t stop laughing -- I had tears running down my face for most of the meal.

Lisa: Travelling around Vietnam was pretty special -- it was our first trip together and a chance to find out a lot about each other. We ended up having an absolute blast and one night in Nah Trang, we went for dinner and literally didn’t stop laughing the whole time -- to the point where we had tears rolling down our faces. I remember a lady looking over at us and smiling a knowing smile, I wasn’t drinking during the trip and it was a moment of complete pure happiness.

What is your secret to long-lasting love?

Stephen: I wouldn’t say I am an expert, but I think no matter what’s going on in life it’s important to take time to show your partner how special they are. It’s the thoughtful things that count, not the grand gestures.

Lisa: Only a short time into our relationship, I feel I’m not qualified to comment on longevity. However we’ve been through so much in the last eight months we’ve had to learn a lot about ourselves and how we work together very quickly. Long distance is hard at the best of times, never mind when it’s a distance between Liverpool, England and Sydney, Australia with a baby on the way! The key elements to our success are communication, the willingness to compromise and laughter. Lots of laughter!

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