NO MATTER WHAT

THE BIG READ

Flicking my shoes off, I flopped onto the sofa after a long day at work at the fairground.

Living in Frankfurt, it was a tourist hotspot, so it was always busy.

Now home, in May 2012, I flicked on the TV and grabbed my phone.

Flicking through my Pink Cupid dating app, I noticed I had a message.

I wonder who it could be, I thought, as I loaded up the chat.

It was from a woman named Ilana, now 52, who lived over 900 miles away in Wales, UK!

I’d liked her picture a few days earlier, but as I hadn’t paid for the app, I was unable to message her.

Hello, how are you? she had asked me.

Browsing through her profile, I felt drawn to her.

Thin, tall with short hair, she was the