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THURSDAY March 4, 2004 - Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels February 14, 2004 From Russia, with love They are separated by a great distance stretching from Ashland to Russia, but Keith Rogers always tries to keep his new bride, Maria, close to his heart. Rogers, who owns a Farmers Insurance Agency in Ashland, has nearly 100 photos of his wife running in constant rotation on his computer screen at work. And Keith e-mails and instant messages her almost every morning, to go along with the daily phone calls to Russia, which sets him back nearly $400 a month. "You don't plan (love), it just strikes you," Keith, 51, said. "Without that person with you, life isn't the same." Keith Rogers holds a wedding photo of his Russian bride, Maria, who must wait two years before she's allowed to come to the United States. Denise Baratta | Ashland Daily Tidings The couple met in September when Maria Sergeeva, 32, a travel agency owner, came to Ashland as part of a program to learn about American business practices. She is from Nizhni Novgorod, formally known as Gorky, an industrial city of two million people. Keith is a member of a local rotary club, which helped sponsor the group. By the time the Russian delegation left three weeks later, the couple was in love. In December, they were married in Russia. Tough love The fairy tale is not without its hardships. Because of immigration laws, Maria can't come to America for two years, even for a short trip. Her visa has a restriction due to the nature of her prior visit. The delegation was part of a Productively Enhancement Program, of the Center for Citizen Initiatives based in San Francisco. The delegates are expected to go back to Russia and implement what they've learned to benefit their country, and need to stay for two years to accomplish this, according to an agreement they signed. The U.S. government put in an estimated $6,880 for each delegate to come. Keith estimates Maria can't return to America until November of 2004. In the meantime, Rogers is trying to find a loophole for Maria to come to America sooner, even for a visit. He is willing to pay back the $6,800 back to the government. Keith said he hasn't heard back from the U.S. government yet, but is patiently waiting for an answer. He plans to contact the office of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, to see if they can help him. The absence is tough. But Rogers quickly asserts that it's all worth it knowing he has found his true love. "When you see us together, you see we make a great couple," Keith said. "It's hard not being with my wife, but we feel like we're the two luckiest people in the world to have met." Unexpected Love Keith never excepted to fall in love the way he did. A lifelong native of southern Oregon, Rogers, who is divorced and the father of a 28-year-old daughter, said he had a good life in Ashland, had many friends, dated and was content. Then the Russian group came. The delegation was made up of 11 Russian business people. The Ashland Rotary and Ashland Lithia Springs Rotary clubs helped coordinate the three-week trip. Keith was among the delegation at the Medford Airport to pick up the group. He meet Maria while helping her deal with lost baggage. Maria wrote in an e-mail that she knew at that moment Keith was someone special. "I liked him (from) the very beginning," she said. "You know this is like � magic. You don't know the person at all, yet you feel like you know him forever." Keith said over the next several days, he and Maria started to talk to one another and got to know each other better. He said he was impressed with her beauty and intelligence. She could speak several languages, including Spanish and English, and was a successful owner of a travel agency. The group took a trip to Gold Beach, where they both started to feel romance in the air. "We started to realize there was something definitely there between us," Keith said. "Although we are from different cultures, we're so much alike. We both have strong family values and we were both in previous long-term relationships." Keith was married for 24 years, while Maria was married for 12. Maria said a defining moment for her was when they were chatting together while in a restaurant. "I caught his glance on me, chills went through my body, and I had a feeling that this is destiny," she said. Keith concurred. "It just blossomed," he said. "For the last two weeks we were inseparable." It was quite a beautiful, yet whirlwind romance, Maria said. "All of this happened very unexpectedly for both of us," she said. "My trip to the USA, meeting Keith and all our feelings towards each other... I, by no means, could expect to meet my love in the USA. It was only a business trip." After Maria left, Keith went to Russia for a month in October and proposed to her. In December, in the middle of a typically cold Russian winter that goes right to the bones, the couple married, surrounded by Maria's friends and family. Keith said his wife is very close to her mother, sister and 8-year-old daughter. While in Russia, he was impressed with the Russian people and Maria's friends and family. "I have gotten to know Maria's family and friends so well that they are like my family and friends," he said. "They have told me 'Keith, we have been waiting for you � Maria had been so sad, but now we know it was because she was waiting for you.'" When Maria can finally move to America, her daughter will come as well. Maria, who has a degree in teaching, wants to use that skill in America, possibly as a Russian teacher. But until that time, the couple plan to meet each other every few months in other countries. Next week, they will meet for a month in Costa Rica. Someday, they will live together. In the meantime, their hearts are never far, despite the world that separates them. DailyTidings.com Home Page Valley&State | Backpage | O&E | Sports | Archives | Weather | Classifieds Columnists | Faith&Beliefs | Obituaries | Revels | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2004 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Site Search: The new search is here! Click here for more information. .:Advertisements:. RESOURCES - ODOT Road Cams