The Johnsons – a Facebook love story

Leroy Johnson and Lorna Outar Johnson are now celebrating six years of marriage after making the connection on Facebook.

Lorna, who lives in the United States, connected with Leroy, who was staying in Barbados at the time, and started a conversation on the social media site.

Leroy soon asked her if she was Jamaican and when she said yes, he requested her phone number.

He also sent her a photograph of himself and when she saw it, she burst out into peals of laughter because she thought it was so fake.

“I said, ‘There goes another one! That trickster’!” she related to Family and Religion.

However, putting her reservations aside, she one day went to visit him in Barbados and was actually impressed by the way he treated her. She said he went all out and gave her the best treatment. But after being hurt in the past, she said she found it hard to trust him.

Over time, little by little he chipped away at her defences and six years later, the two are not only life partners, but they are also partners in business. The couple operates a bar/restaurant in Gimme-Me-Bit, Clarendon. Lorna makes the trek to her homeland several times for the year to spend quality time with the love of her life.

She admits, though, that she is not yet at the place where she is giving 100 per cent trust, but what she gives is enough to make the marriage work.

Leroy, in reacting to his wife’s reservation in not giving her “full hundred”, sees it as a “culture barrier”.

“I think it is a culture barrier. She is not in Jamaica, but this is me. I think she loves me and I love her. We are compatible and we do things and go places together. There is trust and respect. I think if she never trusted and respected me, she wouldn’t be around me, but you know as a female, they always have their guard up,” he rationalised.

Although he might not yet be receiving one hundred per cent of her trust, to which he said he completely understands, Leroy said that’s OK because at the end of the day, they are in harmony with each other and they both give love and show respect to each other.

Addressing their long-distance relationship and the strain it can put on the union, Leroy said he is the chef at their bar/restaurant and hangout spot in the community, and by the time his day is finished, he is too tired and all he wants to do is sleep. In fact, he confessed to falling asleep sometimes while they are chatting on the phone.

As for Lorna, she works seven days a week and said she keeps her mind occupied.

The marriage doesn’t come without its conflicts and difference, and while Lorna will ignore his calls and keep her distance until she “cools down”, Leroy said he is into mending fences.

There is one thing they both agree on and that is, without good communication, marriages don’t stand a chance.