LUHV is in the Air: Silvia & Daniel’s Love Story

Theirs is a story of serendipity, love at first sight, and great tribulations.

At the time, Daniel had been living in the USA for two years in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but came back to his home country of Argentina to reconnect with his childhood friends.

Silvia was living in Buenos Aires as a high school teacher with limited means. Silvia’s girlfriend had recently been dumped by her boyfriend of 10 years only for him to get married six months later, so she was heartbroken. Silvia and her girlfriend were vacationing in Cordoba, Argentina in search of an affair for her heartsick girlfriend. Silvia was far enough from her home that she felt she wouldn’t stain her reputation as a teacher.

So fate had it that on February 11th, 1988 Silvia and Daniel both ended up in Cordoba, Argentina, a beautiful mountain range.

After a 12 hour bus ride and a quick nap, Silvia and her girlfriend visited Amadeus, a local pub with outstanding music. Silvia and her girlfriend quickly befriended a few other girls there and got a table. Daniel was at the bar with his friends, drinking, picking up girls, and having a good time. They had rented a cabin, so he and his friends were trying to get as many girls as possible to come to their lamb cookout the next day (ew, sorry vegan friends!).

By a crazy coincidence, Daniel’s friends knew some of the girls that Silvia and her girlfriend were sitting with, so Daniel and his friends came over. Before Silvia even knew of his existence, Daniel saw her and, in seconds, became intensely enchanted. After an hour of small talk, Silvia thought they had found the perfect affair candidate for her girlfriend. Daniel was gorgeous, funny, hot, really sexy, and since he planned to return to the U.S. in a month, she’d never have to see him again!

The next day, Silvia and her girlfriend joined Daniel and his friends’ cookout. There were a lot of people wearing skimpy outfits, drinking, and having fun. Not our traditional teacher's get-together, but they had a mission to accomplish! Daniel’s friends showed interest in Silvia, but Daniel already had this feeling that Silvia was his, entirely his. Daniel baited her the whole day, banting her about being a poor teacher looking for a free meal. Her feathers and pride were up, but the witty banter was engaging and funny. He also spent the day in her girlfriend's company, which was part of their plan but annoyed her nonetheless.

Later that night, they planned to return to Amadeus. When getting ready for their night out, Silvia’s girlfriend revealed Daniel was too hippie for her taste, wearing tie-dye shirts. Silvia tried to convince her friend of all of Daniel's perfect attributes, which included the word hottie, at which point her girlfriend suggested that maybe she should have an affair with him! Silvia flushed, her heart skipped, and she let all the emotions that she had repressed during the day finally come to light.

Meanwhile, Daniel and his friends were getting ready in their cabin for their night out. Daniel’s friends were eager to attract Sivlia. Daniel agreed to let them take their turn for five hours, but when midnight struck, it would be time for him to make his move! When they all finally arrived at Amadeus, Daniel’s friends made their attempts to woo Silivia, pulling her to the dance floor to impress her. Silvia was having fun, but she knew deep down that she had feelings for Daniel. Daniel, however, remained aloof, showed no interest in her, and seemed to be barely paying attention to her. On several occasions, she sat next to him and asked him if he felt alright, to which he would dismiss her asking with a solemn, “I'm okay, thank you.” Minutes later, she was dragged once again to the dance floor by one of his friends. Silvia wasn’t aware of Daniel’s plan, so she worried that she had taken her indifference too far. Her love for helping others kicked in, and she tried unsuccessfully to get Daniel to open up about what was on his mind. His short and confusing answers that intrigued her even more. Eventually, she offered her professional expertise, explaining that she may be able to help him. His friends kept trying to get her attention, but she was on a mission. She needed to help this sexy and funny man that looked sorrowful. Daniel did not know how long she would stay sitting next to him, but he needed to keep his despair cover until midnight. That was the agreement he made with his friends, but it killed him to see her so vulnerable and loving.

During that hour, talking about their emotions, their dreams, something happened. When midnight struck, she offered once again her help. This time. Daniel got really close and spoke softly into her ear, for only her to hear, "Mi problema es que estoy locamente enamorado de ti y no se que hacer,” which translates to “my only problem is that I am madly in love with you, and I don't know what to do with it.” In an instant, she was wrapped in Daniel’s arms, dancing to the slowest music, and being kissed by the sexiest man she’d ever met. It was an onslaught to her emotions. She fell head over heels right there. It was also an onslaught on his emotions, Daniel knew he never felt this way before, and his experience was definitely bigger than hers. He was undoubtedly in love. They spoke all night long and every day after that for hours and hours.

When the vacation was over, she returned to Buenos Aires and he returned to Santa Fe. She promised that she’d visit him in two weeks to celebrate his birthday on February 25th. He’d wait for her at the bus center in the town plaza.

So on February 25th, Daniel told his father, Gino, that Silvia was the one and if she arrived today as promised, he’d marry her. Gino was reluctant to believe him as he knew his son had a repertoire of girlfriends over the years, but Gino did notice this was the first time his son had mentioned marriage!  

After falling asleep on the bus, she realized the bus had arrived in Santa Fe. Instead of being scared that Daniel wouldn't be there and that the next bus wouldn’t be until the following day, she was the last one down because she was fixing her makeup.

By the time she came down, almost everyone was gone, and right in front of the door was Daniel with a frown that immediately transformed into the loudest laugh when he saw her. He hugged her tight, kissed her blind, and took her to meet his family.

Daniel proposed to Silvia later that day. Even though she had only known him for two weeks, she knew he was her best friend and love of her life, so she agreed to marry him.

Five months later, Silvia moved to The United States, married Daniel, and together they started the most beautiful family, including Facundo 30, Gabriel 26, Marcello 20, and Julietta 17.  For Silvia and Daniel, raising happy, thoughtful children was not easy, but it’s an accomplishment of a lifetime!

When Silvia had a heart attack in 2014, Daniel loved his wife to health by introducing his wife and children to veganism. Daniel’s love language was giving the best of him to others, and it’s forever changed the Lucci family! Silvia and Daniel's journey started 33 years ago, and they can't wait for the next 33 years to spend together. The end!