Gerry Zydek spent every summer on O'ahu with his family. The yearly visit was a tradition started when his parents honeymooned here 32 years ago.

Near the end of one vacation in 1999, Zydek met Tiare Martin, then a student at Kamehameha Schools. Martin's best friend was interested in Zydek's younger brother, whom she'd met on the beach the year before.

The two girls decided to hang out at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider, where the Zydeks always stayed, hoping to "coincidentally" run into them.

They did.

But Zydek was with a group of Australian girls. He and Martin only exchanged hellos.

The next day the two friends met up with the two brothers again, this time sans Australian hotties.

Zydek and Martin started talking, and they connected.

"We got along really, really well," said Martin, now 24, a substitute teacher from Nu'uanu.

The next night the foursome went to dinner; the next night they watched fireworks in Waikiki.

That's when Zydek performed a magic trick for Martin. The end result was a piece of paper that read, "I love you."

"I was, like, whatever," Martin said, laughing. "I figured I'd never see him again."

Little did she know Zydek really meant it.

"I thought she was so beautiful," said Zydek, 29, who's now a school psychologist in Michigan. "She was really nice and very easy to talk to."

They exchanged phone numbers, mailing addresses and promises to stay in touch. And for the next seven years, they did.

"I'd never met anyone like him," Martin said. "He was such a nice guy, he was focused on school and he was really polite and really interested in me."

After a year of exchanging letters — neither had Internet access or cell phones at the time — Martin was still reluctant to believe Zydek's affection. But by the summer of 2000, his intentions were confirmed.

"When he starting planning (for us) to meet up, I knew he really wanted to see me," Martin said. "He was really serious."

That summer they hung out at the beach, went to movies and talked for hours, often sitting by the hotel pool until midnight.

"We were trying to fit it all in," Martin said, "because we knew he'd leave and we wouldn't see each other."

She was smitten by his thoughtfulness. He'd open doors for her, pay for dates and always hold her hand.

"He really started to grow on me," she said, smiling.

For the next several years, they'd write letters and talk on the phone for hours.

The closer they got, the more trips they planned to see each other — and the harder it was to be apart.

"I'd miss her right away when I'd get home," Zydek said. "I'd keep myself busy ... but every summer, it got worse."

The distance was hard. Martin was going to Brigham Young University-Hawai'i, and Zydek was getting his master's degree from Wayne State University. Both wanted to finish their degree programs and get settled in careers before making any life-changing decision.

"Every year it would be more painful," Martin said.

In 2004, when Martin was starting her last year at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, they started talking seriously about marriage. Martin even told Zydek what kind of ring she wanted.

Zydek had plans to propose that Christmas but wanted to keep it a surprise. He told her not to expect anything that December when he was coming to visit, saying he was still saving up money to buy her a proper engagement ring.

She bought it — and had no idea what he was planning that morning of Dec. 19, during a hike up Diamond Head.

Over the years, the couple had collected dozens of commemorative pennies from the places they had visited. So Zydek had one made especially for the occasion.

It read: "Tua, Will You Marry Me? Love Gerry."

At the top of the lookout, Zydek casually dropped the customized penny on the ground, hoping Martin would see it and pick it up.

It took awhile, but Martin finally noticed the shiny object and kneeled down to grab it.

"When I saw it, I looked at him and he was just smiling at me," Martin said. "I was, like, 'Are you serious?' "

But by then, the lookout had become crowded with tourists. He took her hand and led her back down the path, got on one knee and proposed.

Everyone cheered.

They hiked back down and Martin called her parents, who had already given Zydek their blessing.

But before they could even plan the wedding, they had to make a tough decision: Where would they live?

"At first I thought, 'Why should I have to move to Michigan? My family is here. Can't we find someplace in the middle?' " Martin said. "But once he proposed, I had softened to the idea."

She decided to move to Michigan after their wedding. It would be more affordable, and she could go back to graduate school.

"It felt better to move," she said. "I know I can come back every summer."

The couple wed on July 8 at St. Augustine Church in Waikiki, with a reception at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider for about 150 guests.

Though they had been dating for seven years, they had spent little time together.

"If you add up all the time, we haven't been together a year," Zydek said, laughing.

But they don't think they'll have any problems getting along.

"We've really gotten to know each other better," Zydek said.

"Right," agreed Martin. "You can't hold hands or go to the movies. All you have is their personality over the phone."

Reach Catherine E. Toth at ctoth@honoluluadvertiser.com.