He Proposed Via Text!
10
Originally from the Philippines, Ann moved to Connecticut in 2015 with her son Emmanuel.
“While motherhood overflowed my heart with rivers of joy, the desire for a future partner and father for my son was still very much alive in my heart,” Ann says. She had been married in 2008, had her son in 2009, and then in 2011, her first husband had passed away. She missed the beautiful companionship and love that marriage brought. Emmanuel's multiple medical conditions left Ann with little time to go to events with the intention to meet people. So she decided to invest in online dating, and CatholicMatch seemed to be a good place to try. So she created her profile in February of 2017.
Meanwhile, John had been on dating sites before, including CatholicMatch, but had little luck.
One particular night, after he had left the site, he took his love life to prayer. He distinctly heard a voice in his head telling him to go back to CatholicMatch. “I did!” John replied a little heatedly. The voice responded, “Go again!”
John, knowing a spiritual prompt when he heard one, followed through and rejoined CatholicMatch to try again. As he rebooted his profile, he wrote down the prayer to St. Raphael and began to recite the prayer regularly. Almost magically, later that same February, he spotted Ann’s new member profile. “She’s really cute,” John instantly thought.
But alas, he lived far away in New York. “Well, the woman of my dreams will not be in my backyard!” John thought, and sent her a message. She replied promptly, and a week later they traded phone numbers. Their first phone call was full of laughter and instant chemistry.
What could be next but a first date?
On March 27th of 2017, barely a month after Ann joined CatholicMatch, they met at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. Ann brought her son and a friend to New York, so she could meet John for the first time. John almost didn’t make it. First, every single subway train was delayed, so he was going to be late. Then, a fellow passenger spilled coffee all over him. So much for a clean first impression! A third delay happened when he met a hungry homeless man--admirably, Patrick stopped to buy him a meal, but it delayed him even further from meeting Ann. What would she think of such a late first date?!
Ann couldn’t have been more impressed, as it turned out.
Coffee stains and the ticking clock didn’t even catch her eye. “I listened to John as he articulated his prayers fluently. He looked at me with sparkly eyes and I smiled back with confidence knowing that he can pray,” she said.
Here, at last, was someone whose faith shone! They went to dinner after Mass, where John experienced another spiritual prompt. “I just knew that I’d met my future wife and son!” he said. Out loud, he told Ann, “I am going to marry you.” A bold move, to which Ann was suspicious. She told him he must say that to all of his dates. John said not at all. Ann was special!
Their first date went so well, they followed it up with another, then another.
Soon they were officially dating! Emmanuel liked John, too, and was happy to see him regularly. Come that winter, John felt that it was time to pop a question. But he didn’t do it in a conventional way. Since he’d already told Ann early on he thought they would get married, he broached the subject again via text. He typed out the fateful four words “Will you marry me?” while staying late at work, and anxiously awaited a response.
Ann replied in the same casual way with a “Yes, hon!” and John burst into joyful tears. A week later they recreated a more official proposal with a diamond ring in Ann’s hometown of Fairfield. One year later, they married at Our Lady Of Assumption in the same city. John sponsored Ann's and their twelve-year-old son's green cards, as well--now the happy family lives in Fairfield. They work hard to practice honesty, thankfulness, and compassion as a family, as they believe these virtues help all of them to grow in faith and love. Ann and John work together to practice positive parenting for their son, as well, who is thriving with two faithful parents. All three of them also participate in the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals as a volunteer ministry.