Sometimes, it is the little things about a person’s CatholicMatch profile that make all the difference. Michael had made a couple of contacts on the site, but then he had the urge to change part of his profile. “One day though I had this feeling that God wanted me to be open to the possibility to move to a different area. Though I was hesitant, there were times in my life that I didn’t follow the signs he was sending,” Michael said. “So I changed it to: ‘Prefer my current location, but God has a plan.’"
This sentence was what made Alexa send Michael a message. As she owns her own business and was unable to move, she thought she would take a chance and reach out to Michael before her year-long membership to the site expired.
“I could tell right away that Alexa was an amazing person,” Michael said. “She didn’t let anything hold her back...When she contacted me she seemed pretty aggressive. She knew she didn’t want to mess around and I thought this was pretty great. I took a chance.”
Alexa asked Michael out on a date two days after he replied to her message, and on Saturday they met at the Wrought Iron Grill in Michigan, which was conveniently located halfway between where they both lived.
“I had learned from blind dates in the past that meeting in person was very important to seeing if two people ‘clicked,’” Alexa explained. “Two people can email, text, talk on the phone, etc. for hours before meeting to get to know each other, but you truly see if the relationship has potential when you have the opportunity to interact face to face with the person.” She wasn't nervous before the date because she was confident that she and Michael had a lot of common interests.
Alexa opened up to Michael about her desire to live a healthier lifestyle over lunch, and when they took a walk through a festival going on downtown, he started to share more about himself. “I felt so bad for him though because it was over 80 degrees and humid and the poor guy had long pants and a golf shirt on while we walked around in the sun for an hour,” Alexa remembered.
She asked him out on a second date for the next weekend, and the next day he sent flowers to her office. “He was very complimentary in the words noted on the card and that he was looking forward to seeing me next weekend,” Alexa said.
Soon after, Michael traveled to Florida for three weeks. That is when he fell in love. “I knew it was real love for the fact we had no contact,” he said. “My love for her was solid. When I came back my mission was not for her to love me. It was for her to get to know me for who I was and if she fell in love that would be great. I was trusting God.” As it turned out, Alexa was due for major surgery after his return from Florida, and he even changed his return date to see her before she had the procedure.
“Although I had strong feelings for Michael, I didn’t fall in love with him until a few weeks after my surgery. How Michael interacted with my family and friends after my surgery and how he helped me during my recovery reassured me that this man really loved me and would make a great husband and father to future children,” Alexa said.
The two have spent their weekends visiting each other and they talk and text every day. “The common foundation of Catholicism has made this relationship much easier than past relationships,” said Alexa. “We have common past experiences and common goals for the future. Both of us would strongly encourage couples to attend the Catholic Engaged Encounter retreat weekend when they are discerning engagement. You can attend even before you are officially engaged. It was a life changing experience for both of us and we think it is highly beneficial for all couples who are looking at a future together.”
Michael and Alexa will be married September 26, 2015. “From the first time we talked online, to when I proposed, I lived by 15 seconds of courage,” said Michael. “It started it with Alexa and it has worked every time.”
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