There are times in our lives when certain people cross your path and they instantly become an example and an inspiration to you. VIP Members Leonard and Angelina Fridlington are these types of people.

Angelina at 91 years young and Leonard at 88 are our newest residents in Esterillos Oeste on the Central Pacific Coast. Their new home was recently completed and this remarkable couple arrived April 30th 2009 to begin this new chapter in their lives in Costa Rica.

Leonard was born in Yorkshire, England in 1921 and at a young age he joined the Royal Air force to help defend his country against the onslaught of the German war machine in World War II. Leonard became a tail gunner and flew untold bombing missions over Germany.

Before joining the Royal Air Force, Leonard was working in engineering and remembers the endless scrambles down three flights of stairs to the bomb shelters below when the air raid sirens would go off. Leonard's father was wounded in WWI and later died when Leonard was only 6 months old.

Leonard shared one harrowing story of a bombing raid that hit their building. After the bombing had subsided he heard a clicking sound and thought there was an unexploded bomb that perhaps had a timing mechanism. Fortunately he discovered only that the force of the bombing had activated one of the machinist department's presses and it was rotating trying to click off new parts.

Leonard said he never felt scared or too nervous when they would leave on bombing missions. He said, "It was best to become numb to it. If you weren't able to do that, it was hard to get through the day and perform your duty if you were constantly scared and thinking you were going to die."

Leonard said they spent their time flying bombing missions and then trying to forget about them in the local pubs. He flew with a squadron of 19 bombers that were responsible for numerous successful missions over Germany. Leonard served four years in the Royal Air Force and another five years in the Reserves. Leonard eventually immigrated to the United States in 1965, taking a job in New Jersey.

Angelina was born in Brooklyn, New York and was one of nine children. Angelina grew up during the depression so she never had the opportunity to go to college. She remembers many nights going to bed cold and hungry. Her brother George worked hard and was able to attend New York University as well as Columbia University but shortly after completing his education joined the army. George was killed only 7 days after arriving on the front lines. Angelina said many in their family lost their lives in that war.

Angelina later moved to Queens. She eventually moved to Florida and was running rental properties for a small hotel type business. It was while Angelina was on vacation in England with a tour group when she met Leonard who was sitting in a small café as he happened to be back in England on a visit. When he heard her mention that she lived in Florida, he told her he had always wanted to visit Florida. The rest as they say is history. Married for 31 one years now, they attribute their marriage and long life to living healthy and living simply.

Leonard and Angelina have relatives who have owned land in several different places in Costa Rica for some time. They had never considered it an option for themselves until one of those unexpected crossing of paths of their own. While sitting in the waiting room at a doctor's office they over heard a gentleman remark that he wished he could move back to Costa Rica. After just a brief conversation with the gentleman, they went their separate ways.

Leonard being proficient on the computer immediately started researching more about Costa Rica. (I hope I am still surfing the web for insights and information when I am 88.) They planned trips to explore the areas they might be interested in. Before arriving last December, Leonard had found the "WeLoveCostaRica.com" web site and read many of the articles.

Their December trip was to check out Santa Ana, Escazu, and the Atenas area. Before their trip they saw the "Affordable Homes Near the Beach" article and thought that fit more of what they were looking for. So they made arrangements to come and check out Esterillos Oeste on the Central Pacific coast and the project featured in the article.

They fell in love with Esterillos and two of the things that appealed to them the most, and fit one of their main criteria was that it was a real community and most of the town was flat. Leonard and Angelina walk to keep in shape. So it was important for them to have a place they could walk easily to the market, the beach, and some of the local restaurants.