He had been searching online for almost a decade before she appeared in his search.
“I had been a member of CatholicMatch for eight years, and after a while I got cynical,” says Tanie, 39, from California.
Even so, Tanie kept searching on CatholicMatch for the woman of his dreams.
In March 2016, he was again checking out the profiles when Penelope, 36, caught his eye.
“At first I thought, Great! Here's another girl who won’t reply to my emotigram. On top of that, she lives all the way in the Philippines.”
Tanie chose not to message Penelope, but each time he logged on, she was there. Maybe it was a sign that he should act, he considered. Tanie steeled himself against the possible rejection and clicked the button to send Penelope a rosary emotigram along with a quick message.
You could have knocked him over with a feather when the next day a notification appeared saying Penelope had replied.
Over the next few weeks, emotigrams became message exchanges that lasted well past midnight.
They wrote to each about family, friends, work, and they found common ground with their faith, culture, and Golden State Warriors basketball.
They then became Facebook friends. They’d spend time watching basketball games on TV while talking on Messenger. Those chatting sessions would last well past midnight.
Like Tanie, Penelope is a huge Warrior's fan. She likes Steph Curry and follows his wife on social media. "She'd scream loud when anyone from the Warriors makes a big play," he says.
There was so much about Penelope to like. “I was falling in love,” Tanie shares. Penelope felt the same towards Tanie. “I always wanted to be with a man who would bring me closer to God,” she says.
He was nervous and excited to fly from California to the Philippines to meet in person.
In January 2017, Tanie boarded a plane for the Philippines. “Was I nervous? Yes. Excited? Definitely!”
They had waited over a year to meet each other in person.
During his three-week stay, the couple went to the malls, hung out with friends, and Tanie met Penelope’s family. “It was great! I came back to California thinking, ‘I'm going to marry her.’”
In September 2017, he again boarded a plane back to see to the woman he loved, but this time a beautiful engagement ring was waiting in his carry on.
One night after a busy day sightseeing, Tanie casually pulled out the ring and proposed. Without hesitating, Penelope said, “Yes!”
“He already knew that I would like to be his wife, so there was no drama about the proposal,” Penelope laughs.
His third trip back to the Philippines was for his wedding.
Over the next few months, the couple planned their wedding. It was not an easy task to get everything organized with so many miles between them. “Somehow we managed!” the couple says.
When Tanie traveled to the Philippines for the third time, it was for his wedding. On February 21, 2018, at St. Benedict Church in Cavite, Philippines, Tanie took Penelope as his bride.
“Penelope looked incredibly beautiful as she walked down the aisle to the song, ‘He Has Chosen You For Me,’” Tanie remembers. “There wasn’t a dry eye in the church—including the groom!”
He adds, “After all of that time on CatholicMatch, God made a way for an unassuming guy from California to find a vivacious God-fearing woman from the Philippines.”
Even though they are still separated for now while waiting on a visa, both are willing to do whatever it takes to build their future together.
Penelope is still living in the Philippines waiting for her visa, so she can join her husband in California. She has yet to visit Tanie's home. "It’s a long process for the visa, but it has to be done. We’re willing to go through it for us to have a bright future for our family," the couple says.
In the meantime, to stay connected, Tanie and Penelope video chat on Facebook messenger every day without fail. "We know what’s going on in each other’s lives. It’s the highlight of my day," shares Tanie. "When it’s night here, it’s morning over there, but we make it work."
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