A 62-year-old British grandmother has married the 26-year-old boyfriend she met on Facebook after friending him accidentally while looking for someone else. Isabell Dibble was looking for an airport barista named Bayram she met while returning from a vacation in Mahdia. However, her message accidentally went to Tunisian cab driver Bayram Boussada, who’s now Isabell’s husband, The Mirror reports.
- Isabell and Bayram chatted online for months. After the accidental connection, the pair started doing video calls, text chats, and even met in person to take their relationship to the next level. In January 2020, they married in Tunisia, though they’re still living thousands of miles apart in different countries.
- Bayram began calling Isabell “[his] wife” after only a few months. However, Isabell, who’s lost three husbands to heart attacks and cancer, wanted it to be done right. “I said if he really wanted to marry, he’d have to ask properly. A week later he sent me pictures of a tray of rings and asked me to pick one,” she recalled.
- She left her home in Kent and traveled to Tunisia to meet him last October. The trip couldn’t have gone better, according to Isabell. “When I arrived I met his parents, who were incredible. They set up candles everywhere and got a cake and he proposed to me in front of them,” she recalled. “My family were a bit shocked to begin with and told me to be careful, which is natural. But their attitude is ‘You had it tough in life, so do whatever makes you happy.’ I lost three husbands and they know I need some excitement and love in my life. They know I’m young at heart and that he makes me happy.”
- Isabell’s kids were skeptical and still haven’t met Bayram. “I didn’t have a problem with my mum meeting someone online, but I was a bit dubious to begin with,” said 37-year-old Emma. “You hear all sorts of stories about younger men meeting older women and they’re only after one thing. The thing that worried me was that she was going to another country to meet a stranger. I was on the phone to her the entire time she went over there – she would do the same for me.” Emma added that she became convinced of their love after “seeing their connection,” though it’s unclear how she’s seen that since she didn’t attend the wedding.
- The age difference doesn’t bother Isabell and she insists their love is real. She’s not concerned about the 36 year age gap between herself and Bayram and she also doesn’t worry that her new husband’s intentions may not be legit. “I know there are so many cons that go on so I had my doubts and I was skeptical,” Isabell said. “I read stories about women like this and I never thought I’d be in this position but he’s never asked me for money, he’s never asked me for anything. He doesn’t care if I move there or he comes here, we just want to be together.”
- They’re still trying to bring Bayram to the UK. Isabell insists this is simply logistical since she has her kids and grandkids in the country and it would be easier for Bayram to come to her. However, the current global health crisis has brought their plans to a grinding halt. “It’s so difficult. Hopefully things will turn around soon,” she said. “We’re hoping it may be by June, but who knows. I just can’t wait to get him over here so we can start enjoying time together.”
- To many, of course, this seems like a scam. The idea of criminal or otherwise insincere men scamming older, vulnerable women isn’t exactly news. In fact, it happens more often than you’d think. It could be that Isabell’s new husband is using her to get to the UK, at which point he may very well leave her behind. Here’s hoping that’s not the case and that Isabell and Bayram’s love is legit.
