The course of true love never did run smooth, William Shakespeare said. But the bard didn't realize love in the 21st century has to contend with pandemic restrictions and internet dating sites.

But Donnie Geibel hopes the obstacles keeping him and his fiancée, Ana Maria Fajardo of Colombia, apart will be overcome in time for a September wedding.

Geibel, 38, a staff nuclear medicine technologist at Butler Memorial Hospital for 16 years and the head wrestling coach at Butler Junior High for just as long, met Fajardo, 35, in September 2019 after doing some preliminary chatting on Match.com

“I saw her profile. She seemed really nice. I sent her a message,” Geibel said.

Fajardo was visiting her mother, brother and stepfather, who lived in Churchill, a borough 10 miles east of Pittsburgh. Geibel said her mother helped Fajardo go through the Match.com profiles. He said it helped that “we were both Catholic and both close to our families.”

They met for dinner and hit it off.

Fajardo, writing from Colombia, said, “I was looking for the man of my life, the one who I can spend the rest of my life, so luckily I found Donnie. He is a really a good man. He is very lovely and kind.

“He has a beautiful blue eyes,” Fajardo said. “Also, we share the same moral and religious values. He is a family man and I like that because for me the family is the most important. He loves animals and for that reason he is also a good human being.”

Geibel was equally smitten.

“She's extremely kind and patient,” he said.

But there were some awkward moments when they came across a language barrier.

“Her English is way better than my Spanish, but there were times when she couldn't express what she wanted to say,” he said.

They dated from September 2019 until January 2020 when Fajardo had to return to Colombia as the tourist visa she used to visit the United States was due to expire.

Fajardo planned to return to the United States in about three months.

Geibel flew to Colombia to visit her in March. He proposed to her March 11 and flew back to the United States just as the pandemic was really starting to hit hard.

“I just made it home; it was really close. The week I was down there, you were hearing more and more news every day about COVID,” he said.

A few days after Geibel returned to Butler, Fajardo faced strict pandemic restrictions in Colombia.

“Everything was closed,” she said. “So, for six months, I was at my house. People could only go out to buy some groceries or to go to the pharmacy or for emergencies. It was a complete change for my life.

“After the six months, I could go out, but just for certain days,” she said. “Donnie came to visit me in November, but we just could only go to close places and we couldn't visit anybody.”

The restrictions have eased since.

“Now I can go outside on certain days to restaurants that are open just until 11 p.m. and it depends on the last number of my ID,” Fajardo said. “I can go inside the banks, malls like three or two times per week.”

Fajardo's visa was approved in December.

“We are currently waiting for it to go through processing,” Geibel said.

Geibel and Fajardo plan to have a small ceremony before a district justice soon after she arrives in Butler. Fajardo has a fiancée visa, which requires the couple to get married within 90 days once she is back in the United States.

“We have a church wedding planned for Sept. 11, 2021, at St. Wendelin's Catholic Church. It's exactly two years after we met,” he said.

Until then, they can only count the days until they can be together again.

“My day is at home talking with Donnie and family, cooking my food. I go outside when I can to visit some friends and family. I was studying English online,” she said.

Fajardo, who has a degree in international relations, said she will need to improve her English and take some college courses to get her degree recognized in the United States before she seeks employment in her field.

And there's more on her to-do list. “Also, we want to have babies,” she said.

Geibel has been busy getting ready to make a life together. He recently sold his townhouse and bought a house in Butler.

And he's adopted a dog.

“We were looking to get a Yorkie. This is one the people were looking to rehome,” he said. “I asked what its name was, and they said Eleven. I thought that was kind of weird.

“But they told me it was named after their wedding date,” Geibel said. “I proposed on March 11 and we are getting married Sept. 11, so I guess this dog was meant to be with us.”

It's been a long haul, but Geibel is definitely of the “absence makes the heart grow fonder” school. “It's been hard only seeing her two times in the past year, but our love has grown,” he said. “Not being able to see someone can actually make you appreciate them that much more.”