Sitting at a classical music concert, Glenn thought he recognized the woman sitting next to him—but he couldn’t quite place her.
“When she came in I saw her and was wowed. All through the concert, I was perplexed as to why this woman who had wowed me looked familiar,” Glenn, 64, said.
Glenn and the beautiful woman did not exchange words during the concert.
“We call that Sunday ‘the day we didn’t meet,’” said the woman, Patrice, 61.
Where have I seen her before?!
When he got home Glenn finally figured out where he had seen Patrice before: on CatholicMatch. He then took action. “He sent me a message from the website I couldn’t believe that he had recognized from my picture on CM and that we had been seated side by side!” Patrice said.
What some might chalk up to a chance encounter, Patrice and Glenn attribute to divine providence. They took the hint and started talking online.
One week later, both Glenn and Patrice, who live in the North Shore of Boston, Mass. attended yet another local concert. This time they talked to each other. “Glenn came over to introduce himself. He was soft spoken—so easy to talk to,” Patrice said.
“Upon meeting her, I was struck by the ease of talking to her. My impression from her picture was right. Patrice is very beautiful and very intelligent,” Glenn added.
One week later they had their official first date—a three-hour conversation over coffee.
First date at -13 degrees
Not all first dates are necessarily memorable, but this one was. “Oh yeah, I was quite taken by her,” Glenn said. “I didn’t want the date to end and it had nothing to do with the minus 13 degree temperature outside.”
They discovered that they had a lot in common—they had grown up in the same neighborhood three tenths of a mile apart, they had gone to different Catholic schools and parishes yet in the same city, and had friends in common.
“But our paths never crossed, so we think,” Patrice said.
Six or seven dates into their relationship, Glenn was sure he was falling in love with Patrice. In late March or early April he told her that while they were at her home, watching television.
Soon, ‘falling in love’ got upgraded to ‘I love you.’
“I told Patrice that I loved her when we went to see an off-Broadway production of the Sound of Music. Patrice was telling me that her friends were wondering if you could be in love after a few months. I replied, ‘Yes, I love you, Patrice.’ She said that she loved me too,” Glenn recalled. (“The play was pretty good too,” he added.)
Opposites aren't the only ones that attract
“I decided that Glenn is the person for me because he has the same spirituality and family values that I have and the same easy-going temperament. He is a gentle soul like I am. We have so many commonalities. We love being together, we have fun together, and we miss each other when we are apart,” Patrice said. It’s his kindness and thoughtfulness that makes her feel so at ease and at peace when she is with Glenn, Patrice added.
“Rather than a litany of her many good qualities, I’ll try to summarize what I feel: Patrice makes my heart and soul joyful and at the same time she puts my heart and soul at ease. I’m happiest when we are together and I miss her when we are apart. I love the wonderful person she is and want to be with her forever,” Glenn said.
Last summer, Glenn asked Patrice to marry him and a wedding Mass is now set for next June.
Both say it is divine providence that orchestrated their relationship. “Our story has so many connections and near misses, that I believe God divinely intervened to bring us together at that concert so that we could meet…fall in love, and live and love happily ever after,” Glenn said.
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