HOW THEY MET: Walailak "Nan" and Danny Hamilton

This particular love story, beautiful and heartbreaking, began in 2006, when Walailak, “Nan," living in Thailand at the time, and Danny, living in Pleasanton, connected through an online dating service.

Their connection was immediate and they graduated from e-mailing to talking on the phone and then talking via Skype.

Danny proposed after a few months of communication. However, Nan was not sure he was serious and declined. If he is serious, she thought, he’ll come to Thailand.

In 2008, Dan did exactly that. They met in person for the first time on Nov. 19 at the International Thailand Airport.

Nan hid her face behind a bouquet of flowers she had brought for him and guided him over the phone to “keep walking,” then surprised him with a “Welcome to Thailand” hug.

“He dropped his suitcase, lifted me up and hugged me so strong I couldn’t breathe,” Nan remembers with tears in her eyes.

During the visit, they island hopped. Danny met Nan’s sisters, nieces and brother in-law. They rode go-carts and visited the zoo and the beach, all the while growing more deeply in love.

On Nov. 22, Danny gave Nan a ring and proposal over dinner at Maritime Resort and Spa. They married outside of Lake Tahoe on Oct. 10, 2009.

Their first year of marriage, which was also Nan’s first year in the United States, included many romantic and family/friend adventures. They included a trip to Palm Springs to meet Danny’s mother, a trip to Disneyland with Danny’s niece and mother, Nan’s first job and paycheck, earning her driver’s license, barbecues with family/friends and sporting events, especially Raiders games. 

They made plans for their future, which included moving back to Thailand in seven years to raise children. But those plans were cut short.

On Nov. 9, 2010, Danny called Nan, saying he was home early and not feeling well. This led to a midnight emergency call to 911, when Danny found himself short of breath and experiencing tightness on his right side. He was rushed to Valley Care Hospital, where it was determined he needed emergency bypass surgery for a torn aorta.

The surgery was successful, but Danny’s brain swelled from oxygen deprivation. He experienced multiple strokes and, at age 49, died, leaving his beautiful wife of only one year, beloved family and friends in a state of shock and disbelief.

As a friend and co-worker of Nan’s, I witnessed and shared in her grief over this unexpected loss. In a beautiful, generous act of love, Nan and the family transcended their pain and donated Danny’s organs through the California Transplant Donor Network.

“I went from sad to proud that we could help somebody else. One man received his liver and one his kidney. One lady received his pancreas. They also took tissue, corneas, bone and veins to help other people,” she said.

A beautiful memorial service was held at Saint Augustine’s.

Nan continues to honor Danny’s memory and their love with Buddhist traditions, which include placing roses by his urn, and placing his favorite Thai meals with rice in the shape of a heart, and a candle and incense on the table.

“I feel him in my heart,” Nan said. “I pray for him. I believe the soul is still there, and he receives my gifts. It is called Buddhist merit. I play the love songs he sent to me when he was alive. I kiss his urn goodnight and good morning every day. I talk to him: ‘Honey, we’ll be back together one day.' ”