Chrissy has always known that she wanted her future husband to be passionately pro-life, but she hadn’t found many men who were involved in the movement.
She started looking for that man on CatholicMatch because her sister Sarah had met her husband on the website.
“In all my years of being on CatholicMatch, I had only seen one profile that mentioned it,” shared Chrissy, 27. “Based on the lack of activity on that profile, I’m was pretty sure he had already been snatched up before I came across it."
That was until Nathan joined CatholicMatch. Nathan, also 27, mentioned on his profile that he was pro-life and involved in sidewalk advocacy in front of Planned Parenthood every Monday.
“Just based off that I knew Nathan was a unicorn,” adds Chrissy.
She didn’t wait for him to message her first.
Chrissy knew that whatever happened, she HAD to message Nathan. She read the rest of Nathan’s profile and sent him a question asking him if he had been pro-life all his life or if his conversion from atheism to Catholicism was what changed his heart so dramatically on the issue.
“I guess you could say I have a ‘let’s get to the point’ approach at this point, and I thank God it didn’t actually scare him off,” adds Chrissy.
The message didn’t scare him off. Nathan says he was impressed by Chrissy’s bold question.
“From the beginning of our relationship, Chrissy stood out from everyone else,” shares Nathan.
After talking on CatholicMatch for nine days, Chrissy gave Nathan her phone number. Nathan called, and they had a 12 ½ hour conversation on the phone, which only ended because they were exhausted after having been up for almost 24 hours. Nathan had been looking for a woman who he could have long conversations with, and Chrissy was that woman!
Driving was almost a deal breaker for Chrissy
Just 20 days after they started talking, the couple met for Mass for their first date. Chrissy drove from her home in Dayton, Ohio, to meet Nathan at Holy Rosary parish in Indianapolis, Indiana, for a Latin Mass.
“Since Nathan didn’t have a driver’s license yet, I had to go to him. It was a solid 100 mile drive from my house and having a background in trucking, I actually planned my trip with a lot of cushioning so I got there early. So early that I actually went to the entire 9:00 am Mass before the one that we planned to meet at, which I used to pray for my future husband and God’s perfect will,” shares Chrissy.
Shortly after that Mass ended, Nathan approached Chrissy. He shares that when he first saw Chrissy, he was struck by how “absolutely beautiful” she looked.
Chrissy was so focused on prayer that he startled her when he said hello.
“I was so nervous at the time I just looked up at him and must have been reminiscent of a deer in headlights. I stood up to give him a hug and a more proper greeting when I realized he wasn’t just some random stranger greeting me in a parish I’ve never been to before,” recalls Chrissy. “From there, it was all uphill as we enjoyed Mass in each other’s company and then went out to the parking lot to chat a bit afterward.”
Chrissy knew that Nathan didn’t have a license, and it was almost a deal-breaker for her until he reassured her that he was working on getting his license. Nathan just needed to get the driving hours required by the state to get his full license.
“Being the professional driver that I was and having had trained several co-drivers and proven to myself that pretty much nothing could scare me with someone in training, I handed Nathan the keys to my Chevrolet S10 and we headed to the art museum in the city,” shares Chrissy. “Nathan actually was a pretty good driver even back then, and it really put my mind at ease.”
Chrissy sewed a button back on Nathan's favorite shirt
After the driving lesson ended, the couple parked and found a shady spot under a tree. They had a picnic while Chrissy sewed a button back onto Nathan's favorite shirt, which he brought after she offered to mend it. Afterward, they walked through the museum, enjoying each other’s company.
“When the museum closed, we walked around the outside portion to see all the outdoor art that was there. At 7:00 pm, we went to Mama’s Korean, which was amazing. We finally left there at about 10:30 pm, and we decided we really didn’t want the date to end so we split a dessert at DQ and chatted until they closed.”
Before they hugged goodnight, Chrissy and Nathan planned another date. Then, at midnight, Chrissy finally began the 100-mile drive back to Ohio.
“Driving back home, I could not wait to go back to see Nathan,” recalls Chrissy.
Nathan felt exactly the same. He recalls, “Our first dates were wonderful, and we felt very natural together. It was one of the best days of my life. I really enjoyed her company and I wanted to see her again!”
He broke her laptop on their second date
After their first date, the couple felt like they’d known each other forever. Chrissy drove back to Indianapolis to watch movies at Nathan’s apartment.
“He had offered to clean my laptop since dust was most likely the cause of it being so slow and his expertise is in computers, and I offered to bring him a couch since he had pretty much no furniture and my mom had a still nice couch she wanted to get rid of,” recalls Chrissy. “We had fun getting that up into his apartment on the second floor without an elevator and then he started to take a look at my laptop.”
Chrissy jokes that the laptop was hanging on by a thread, but Nathan put it out of its misery by trying to dust it with compressed air and causing frost to build up inside the laptop.
“I still tease him about to this day in the most loving way possible,” adds Chrissy.
Nathan made it up to her by giving her his own laptop, which was an upgrade from hers anyway.
Long-distance was difficult with only one licensed driver...
While Nathan not having a license didn’t prove to be a deal breaker for Chrissy, it did pose a challenge.
“The state of Indiana required so many hours to be logged. I really admire Nathan for insisting on being honest in his records,” shares Chrissy. “He was getting a little bit of driving time here and there when he’d go to stand outside of Planned Parenthood, but that was taking a long time to accumulate.”
They also dealt with Chrissy’s job changing twice during their relationship and hours that didn’t allow them to spend a lot of time together.
“Nathan was so supportive of me and still wanted to do whatever it took to make our relationship work,” says Chrissy.
Before Chrissy started a managerial job at Burger King that would make seeing each other more difficult, Nathan proposed!
“After Mass and near the end of Adoration, Nathan proposed in a soft whisper,” recalls Chrissy. “I was so not expecting it, and I was so thrilled! It really took a long time for the fact that we were engaged to sink in since it felt like such a dream come true.”
Their engagement was like a scene out of Apollo 13
“Much of our engagement may be best visualized by the scene in Apollo 13 where the astronauts are instructed to rip the cover off the flight plan,” says Nathan. “We had to scrap most of our original plans and improvise continuously. Sometimes things got very stressful and uncertain but we were always able to work through it together. We fought very hard to get married and we are so very thankful to be together!”
In January, Chrissy was let go from her job at Burger King, and she moved to Indianapolis to live with her soon-to-be in-laws. She took that time to plan her wedding, go to Pre-Cana, and spend more time with Nathan.
Then COVID-19 hit, and Chrissy found herself without a home. She couldn’t live with her future in-laws because they were in a high-risk category, and her mom said no to her moving back because she had spent too much time in Indiana and could have COVID-19. Her mom was right.
“Nathan got it first, and then I got it,” recalls Chrissy. “Though neither of us were hospitalized, it was five days of sheer misery.”
The couple ended up having to live in the same apartment during all of this. They set up very strict rules, which they followed diligently, but it was still a concern for the couple, who say they take the more conservative side of things.
“We finally got an answer from a priest who said we weren’t technically in mortal sin by having to live in the same apartment because we had set up very strict rules,” says Chrissy.
The couple received a lot of pressure to postpone their wedding because of the pandemic, but they stood firm.
“We did not want to be in doubt that we were potentially living in mortal sin for any more time than we were required to. As an extra measure we didn’t receive communion until our wedding day just to make sure we weren’t offending God,” adds Chrissy.
The couple faced another hurdle to their wedding. The priest who was supposed to say their wedding Mass was in a car accident, and he was unable to preside over their Mass. Three or four days before their wedding, they finally found out that there would be a substitute priest to fill-in on short notice.
Nathan worried over the priest being late!
When the day of the wedding came, the COVID-19 made things stressful. Before the ceremony, Nathan was worried that the wedding might not even happen because the substitute priest took a long time to show up.
Still, there were small things that helped Nathan get through the day.
“My boss Bob, who is also a very good friend of mine, was able to come as my best man. That may sound silly, but it really felt good because none of my other friends or relatives were able to come due to various COVID lockdowns and restrictions,” shares Nathan.
Thankfully, the priest showed up and the couple was married on April 28, 2020, during the midst of COVID-19.
Chrissy revealed the significance of that date: “We picked the day because it was the feast day of St Giana Beretta Molla, a pro-life saint. It was fitting because of our shared passion in life, pro-life ministry, and sidewalk advocacy. It also happened to be the 3rd year anniversary of my father’s death, which made it especially emotional.
After they said their vows, they presented their flowers to Mary. As her mother sang Ave Maria, the couple took the time to complete their retreat of 33 Days To Merciful Love by consecrating themselves and their marriage to Divine Mercy.
The best part of being married is knowing they are there for each other
“I am so thankful that Chrissy and I have each other! Between the pandemic, civil unrest, and economic collapse there is certainly a lot to worry about and not much to do,” shares Nathan. “I’d say the highlight of our marriage has been knowing that we’re there for each other regardless of what the world brings.”
Chrissy agrees, “Overall, I think the best thing about being married so far is knowing that you have someone that has your back in everything and helps you when you’re struggling the way that only a spouse really can.”
They haven’t been able to go on a honeymoon yet, but they are making the best out of being cooped up inside.
“We’ve been taking walks around our apartment complex and feeding the ducks together, learning a new board game together, scrapbooking, and watching more TV and movies than what will probably be normal in the future,” says Chrissy.
Right now, they’re waiting for their wedding footage to be edited so that they can show it to their guests who couldn’t make it because of the restrictions that the diocese put in place because of COVID-19.
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