Nelson trucker who found love on web

2:15pm Thursday 8th May 2008

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ROSARIA Fontana, a 49-year-old truck-driving single mum, was busy getting on with her life, hauling rocks from a quarry in her home town of Waterford, California.

Five thousand miles away in Nelson, Paul Motyka walked to work for the job he'd had for 18 years.

But a chance meeting in an internet chat room was to change both their lives forever.

They tell their story of their true-life whirlwind romance which started with an innocent "Hello" over a webcam and ended in their wedding just 26 days later.

WHEN Rosaria Fontana's 19-year-old son left home to go to college 350 miles away from the family home in California, USA, he left his mom his computer and webcam.

Never having married, Rosaria (or ZaZa to her friends) missed her son's company and took to spending her evenings chatting to friends she met on internet chat rooms.

Across the pond in Nelson, Paul Motyka spent his days repairing looms at Dawes Weaving and relaxed at night surfing the internet.

Then one fateful night, on August 20, 2006, destiny stepped in and their two worlds collided.

"I used to chat with girlfriends on the internet but whenever a guy came along I'd block him. I hadn't dated for years, I was too busy being a mom," said ZaZa, now 51.

"Then one day this guy popped up on the webcam and said some line - I don't remember what exactly but it was something cute and funny. I looked at his profile and it said he was from England so I though he's probably harmless' and said hi' back."

The pair clicked and despite the eight-hour time difference chatted for 36 hours that week.

"I just couldn't stop talking to her," said Paul, of Fulham Street, Nelson.

"I was getting up at 4am so I could talk to her for an hour or so before work. We just talked chit chat but it was like connecting with an old friend."

Seven days after they'd first met Paul asked ZaZa to marry him - and she said yes.

"Neither of us had told our families and friends about it at that point," said ZaZa. "My son and my friends already think I'm crazy, but Paul is the sort of man who has trouble deciding what underwear to wear in the mornings! He's worked the same job for 18 years and isn't the type to make rash decisions."

Luckily both families took the news well and ZaZa's high school girlfriends even volunteered to organise the whole wedding in less than two weeks as their gift.

"I come from a small agricultural farming community which is incredibly tight-knit and so I'm very close to my friends," she said.

"They did everything from the flowers to the music. They put together an amazing wedding for 125 people on our friend's cattle ranch. They said If you're moving to England we can't buy you gifts so the wedding will be our gift'.

"I had my bridal shower a week before the wedding, before I'd even met Paul in person.

"My friends said: If you don't like him when he gets here this guy's getting the biggest bon voyage party ever because we've organised it and we're having it no matter what!'."

When Paul touched down on the Tarmac on September 9 after a 14-hour flight from the UK, ZaZa was waiting for him.

"I wasn't nervous," said ZaZa. "I didn't have butterflies in my stomach, it was like waiting for a long lost friend to come home.

"When he came through the door it was like something from the movies - our eyes met and everything else melted away into the background. He was carrying a flight bag which he dropped to the floor and opened his arms. I just ran into them and we hugged. Then he leant back and took my face in his hands and kissed me for the first time. My girlfriends, who had come to keep me company, all started crying."

After a quick trip to Walmart to buy essentials (Paul's suitcase didn't turn up until the following day) Paul had only one thing on his mind.

"I said "Let's get home and put the kettle on," said East Lancashire born-and-bred Paul.

"ZaZa looked at me and said: What?'!

"She didn't know what a kettle was - they make cups of tea in the microwave out there. The first thing we did was to buy a kettle."

Despite the hurried arrangements the wedding went with a hitch.

And on Friday, September 15, just 26 days after the pair had first met, they became man and wife.

Paul had to return home the next day, but a month (and $500 in phone calls) later ZaZa joined him for a new life in Nelson.

Now they have been happily married for 18 months.

"The first year was pretty euphoric," said ZaZa.

But she admitted adjusting to life in Nelson had its challenges.

"I couldn't understand why everyone kept asking me if I was 'alright?' But then I realised it's the same as how we might ask How are you?' "I think the bottom line is that you can find love online," said Paul. "And that love at first sight doesn't have to be in person."