Gabrielle couldn’t get Casey’s handsome face out of her mind. The 31-year-old from New Orleans had come across the man four years older in early July of this year. “I passed a wink to him…then he asked me to post scrapbook photos to my profile,” she recalled. “Still, there was no messaging back and forth.” Finally, Gabrielle took the initiative and the relationship potential lurking beneath the surface was triggered.
Online messages soon gave way to phone calls and that immediately gave way to a deep realization of how much the two of them shared on the things that matter most.
“The first night we spoke on the phone, Casey came up with the idea for us to pray the rosary,” Gabrielle said. “For three important things—my dying grandmother, our families and friends and God’s will for him and me.” It’s hard for a relationship that starts with that kind of foundation to go astray.
Two and a half weeks after first making online contact, Casey & Gabrielle had a dinner date, sharing sushi and stories about their lives. “This website really allows you to get to know someone before you even meet,” Gabrielle told CatholicMatch.
Gabrielle brought her daughter to Mass with Casey, a moment neither will forget.
Of course while the CatholicMatch system created a format that made their getting to know each other possible, it was Casey & Gabrielle who made the decision to use it wisely and to turn everything over to God in prayer.
In reality, both were turning their lives over to God well before coming across each other’s paths in early July. Gabrielle had gone though what she termed “years of bad relationships”, including a marriage that is in the process of being annulled. The blessings were still there—most prominently with her five-year-old daughter, but she still wanted her soulmate.
Coming out of Mass one day with her father, he picked up the bulletin and pointed to the CatholicMatch ad on the back. Gabrielle was skeptical—online dating didn’t seem like here thing. But on the other side of the coin, was the reality that “The man is ALWAYS right,” she said regarding her father. At least often enough that she set aside her doubts and put her profile online.
When Casey (at right) attends LSU tailgates this fall, his new better half will complete pictures like these.
Casey didn’t have familial encouraging to join the site, but he had a dose of clarity strong enough that he believes it came from God.
“If I really wanted to meet someone that shared my moral values, then I had to put myself in an environment that allows for this to happen,” he said. Having come out of a relationship that ended because of a difference in religious beliefs, he wasn’t willing to try that road again and figured in joining CatholicMatch, he had nothing to lose.
One year after joining the site, he met Gabrielle. “When I saw her picture and read her profile I immediately wanted to know more about her,” he told CatholicMatch. And that brings us full circle to July 3 when they met online and July 20, the day Gabrielle describes as the one that changed her life.
“(God) allowed Gabrielle and I to meet and just the right moment in our lives,” Casey said. Last Sunday, Mia (Gabrielle’s daughter), Gabrielle and I attended Sunday Mass for the first time together and it was an experience I will remember forever.”
Gabrielle is equally excited when considering the future. “Casey has the biggest heart and he completes me,” she told CatholicMatch. “I thank God and Our Lady every single day.” Their relationship may still be young, but it’s built on a sturdy foundation and when that happens, even better days are around the corner.
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