Both of Bridget’s sisters met their husbands on CatholicMatch, so it felt natural for her to seek someone online. It was also ideal because she traveled a lot for work, and it was difficult to meet people in the typical ways.
However, Bridget discovered that looking for a spouse online can be just as frustrating as seeking someone in person. “Even online, you still have to ‘weed’ the wrong ones out,” she says.
After being on CatholicMatch for three years, she was about ready to give up on the prospect of meeting someone online. “When I moved to Phoenix for work, I told myself it would be the last time I would try it.”
Will Was Looking For Someone with Similar Beliefs
Will joined CatholicMatch because he had a hard time meeting anyone in Phoenix or in his own parish. “So being 22, I did not have many friends, let alone a dating pool. I liked that CatholicMatch connected me to more Catholic singles and I could see what they believed before asking them on a date. Having similar beliefs is so important to me, so CatholicMatch was a logical choice.”
Will was online only two months when a cute girl named Bridget caught his eye. Bridget had only just changed her location on her profile when Will contacted her.
He found himself drawn to her strong beliefs. “The way that she talked about herself and her beliefs was appealing to me. She had convictions and was willing to make them heard.”
Bridget also thought Will was cute and she liked that his profile was detailed, and he was straightforward right from the start. However, she had one reservation—Bridget is five years older than Will. “At first, I wasn't sure since I discovered he was quite a bit younger than me, but with prayer and consideration (and some helpful encouragement from my sisters) I decided to give it a try,” she says.
First Date
On the first date, Will started off on the right foot by picking her up and opening the car door for her. “I found it incredible and rare,” she says.
The two went for Thai food for lunch and then to the local botanical gardens. They ended up talking for five hours. “We covered everything from Natural Family Planning, to movies, to the Magisterium. My sisters were texting me like crazy, asking how things were going,” she recalls.
Will also discovered that Bridget was not only cute and had conviction, but she was easygoing and had a great sense of humor. “It was a lot of fun, and I could tell that Bridget was willing to talk about absolutely anything. We went from light conversation to very deep philosophical conversation at the drop of a hat and brought it back up to levity very fluidly. Talking to Bridget was easy,” he says.
The only difficult part of their relationship was the hour drive. It got old for them, but Will thinks it also made them make the most of the time that they spent together. The long drive wasn’t going to go on much longer.
Proposal
The two had been dating for nine months when Will popped the question.
“In November of 2014, my family was visiting from Ohio for Thanksgiving. I met Will in our local church to pray a Rosary. As we were getting ready to leave and genuflected in front of the tabernacle, Will stayed down and proposed. I couldn’t have wished for a more touching or sincere proposal,” she says.
The proposal wasn’t as grand as Will had wanted it to be. “My future in-laws wanted me to propose while they were still in town, which left me that night to manage a proposal. Needless to say, my awesome and elaborate ideas were reduced to nothing, so I did the only thing I could think of: start the rest of our lives in front of the source and summit of our lives. And, of course, I had to ask Mary’s permission first too!”
On August 8, 2015, at St Clare of Assisi in Arizona, the two will says their marriage vows.
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