It might have been a long way from Florida to Tamaqua, but when Matt Warden met Tiffany Harvilla 23 years ago on the internet, the distance between their two hearts and minds was as close as two people can be.

“I was 15 years old in 2001 and living in Miami at the time and one day my brother was chatting online with a girl from some place in Pennsylvania that I could not even pronounce,” said Matt. “I was a nosy kid so I sort of took over the chat with Tiffany from Tamaqua. She had a very pleasant demeanor and she sounded very mature for her age of 14.”

The chatting continued and continued.

Matt moved to San Antonio, Texas, in 2009 and got a job working for Wells Fargo in the finance department. His talks with Tiffany got longer, sometimes for three hours at a time or until he fell asleep, he said.

When off the internet and the phone, they lived their separate lives. While he lived and worked in Texas, she attended Kutztown University.

“I had dated two other girls,” Matt said, “and I didn’t keep that from Tiffany. We were honest with each other about everything. We had a very special connection with just words and a few pictures, but at one point, we agreed that 10 years was certainly long enough to get to know each other and if we were meant to be together, we had to make a plan to meet each other in person.”

On Oct. 10, 2010, and at the age of age 24, Matt bought a ticket to fly to Philadelphia and meet Tiffany in the airport. “I figured if she showed up that would be great and if not, that’s OK, too,” he explained. “I get it that meeting someone online is considered taboo and risky, but I felt good about us because we had known each other for 10 years already.”

At the airport, Matt was pleasantly surprised. “I was coming down an escalator and there she was, as beautiful as I had imagined her to be in person,” said Matt, who admitted he had to fight back the tears. “We spent the weekend together and had a great time touring the city of Philadelphia. Of course, I had to go back to Texas, but once there, I bought a plane ticket for Tiffany so she could come visit me.”

The relationship had to endure geographical issues of visits with each other from Texas to Tamaqua and Tamaqua to Texas until they decided all the travel was getting to be too expensive.

“Matt packed everything he owned in his truck and drove from San Antonio to Tamaqua in 2011,” said Tiffany. “He met my parents for the first time and then he moved in with us.”

He found work at a local bank. She finished her college degree. After three years and talking about marriage, the couple bought a house in July of 2013 in St. Clair, but didn’t move in until they were married. On a trip to Lancaster, Matt asked Tiffany to step under a gazebo that was overlooking rows of grape vines behind a winery. “I took out the ring and did the traditional thing. I got down on one knee and asked Tiffany to marry me. I guess I was a little nervous. I took her hand to place the ring on, but it was the wrong hand,” he laughed.

On Sept. 14, 2013, they were married in the Zion Lutheran Church in Tamaqua. Following a reception, the honeymooned on a cruise to the Bahamas.

When asked what qualities she found in Matt, Tiffany said he was the perfect easy-going guy. “He has a genuine personality. He’s never pushy about anything and he’s easy to talk to. It was definitely hard just talking with him for 10 years before we met. I guess you could say we were never in a rush. He waited for me to be ready. That’s how kind and caring he is.”

Asked if meeting him on the internet was a concern, Tiffany said it had to be at first. “You hear about horror stories of online hookups, but I figured if Matt stuck around for 10 years, he was going to be someone special.”

Ten years of marriage have now passed since Matt had met Tiffany on 10/10/10 and the love grows stronger every year. They have an eight-year-old daughter named Kinsley.

“Like the vows say, you marry for better or worse,” said Tiffany. “No marriage is perfect, but knowing at the end of the day, one special person is in your corner is something I will never take for granted,”

Matt explained his take on their relationship. “Knowing each other for those 10 years, we found out how alike we were. I spend every day with my best friend. How could anything be better than that?”