Don Smith and Angel Villahoz Baleta met online in September of 2001.  Don lived in Birmingham, AL and worked for Hewlett Packard (HP).  Angel lived in Barcelona, Spain and worked as a computer programmer.  After several vacation visits and many, many communications, in 2003 Angel decided to continue his education at the University of Alabama, Birmingham (UAB).  Don sponsored Angel by providing room and board.  

Due to Angel’s profound deafness, UAB provided accommodations to Angel’s educational efforts.  Angel quickly learned he had a propensity for and great interest in Bioinformatics.  Angel completed his Bachelor and Master degrees at  UAB.   In 2007, Don was reassigned to a new HP account in Boston, Massachusetts.  Don and Angel moved to Massachusetts where Don continued with Hewlett Packard. Angel started PhD work at University of Massachusetts, Lowell.  

After more than 10 years together, Don and Angel were married 23 December 2013 in Massachusetts.  Angel received his green card the following year.  Upon meeting all requirements, Angel applied for citizenship in 2017.  Angel took the oath of citizenship in February 2018 in Syracuse, New York.