Photo by Agata Schoenborn

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 On vacation from Australia, Nicole caught a last-minute flight to New Orleans on New Years. Stan’s flight home to Richmond had been cancelled. Deeply religious, the two met by chance in a Bourbon Street bar. “We just knew,” says Stan. The global courtship that followed included a benevolent immigration caseworker and a Sydney wedding planned by Stan. “I couldn’t plan my way out of a paper bag,” he insists. “But the wedding went perfectly.” Home is now Lavender Fields Herb Farm where they grow certified organic herbs (sold at Whole Foods), run a tea room, and teach classes in cooking and decorating with herbs.<!--StartFragment-->

Stan: “King Solomon said ‘there is a time to plant and a time to love.’ Mine started the night I met my darling Nicole.”

Nicole: “We couldn’t have lived farther apart, unless I’d been from Antarctica. The cool thing is we didn’t let that stop us. Whenever the distance between us seemed overwhelming, another door would open.”  

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