We are so happy to announce that we are officially engaged to be
married!!! We are so grateful to Catholic Match for helping us find
each other! Neither one of us ever felt as though we’d truly find “the
one” through a website when we joined, let alone meet someone so far
away (Cesar lives in Ontario and Amy is in Texas). But much to our
surprise and joy, we each found our soulmate here on Catholic Match!
Which is why we felt it was time we shared our story, so here goes:
Amy:
Cesar sent me a smile emotigram on May 21, 2004. I was immediately
impressed with his profile, and definitely thought he was cute! We
emailed several times that very same day, and continued over the next
two weeks. We had a very long and productive instant message chat one
day, and decided we should speak over the phone (which was very out of
character for both of us to move so quickly, by the way!)
Our
first phone conversation was on June 8th, and it lasted for 2 hours and
24 minutes! I had a good feeling about him right away, and felt as
though I’d known him my whole life. It only took three more days of
talking by phone to realize that we needed to meet in person to truly
know if this had potential.
Cesar booked a ticket to come see me
in Dallas on July 8th, and we spent four wonderful days together! We
went to Mass together every day, and on that Sunday (his last day in
Dallas ), I told my mom “I’m done looking!”
Our next trip was
the following month to both Ontario and Washington, to meet each
other’s families--I knew by then that I was very much in love with him
and that this was probably “it”! Another trip to Chicago followed in
September, and then another to Dallas in October. By this time, I
definitely knew this was forever, and talked tentatively about marriage
and the future.
Over Thanksgiving week, I visited Cesar and his
family in Ontario .On Thanksgiving Day, at the altar of St. Peter’s
Cathedral Basilica, Cesar asked me to be his wife!!! He also surprised
me by arranging for my family to fly from Washington to Ontario to
spend the weekend together with all our loved ones! We don’t know
details yet, but we are planning to be married sometime next summer.
Thanks again, Catholic Match, for helping me meet the man of my dreams!!
Cesar:
I had heard of Catholic Match and had been debating whether or not I
should join. I had a very negative view of online dating, but decided
to give it a try. Seeing how picky I had become when it came to girls,
it was actually a Jewish friend of mine who encouraged me to try
Catholic Match. I signed up, but didn’t make a big deal out of it.
So
I was at work one day and decided to use some of the site’s features. I
went to Catholic Match and clicked on “who’s online” and started
browsing. Amy’s profile was the first on the list, but the location
“Dallas, TX” almost made me dismiss it. But I decided to look at her
profile anyway. I was really impressed with what she wrote. She wrote
things about God and how her faith was important--but most of the girls
on Catholic Match shared those views… what really got my attention was
how happy she was, and when I saw her pictures and her beautiful smile,
I could not resist and sent her a smile emotigram.
I had sent
some girls “smiles: before, but Amy answered mine right away. I
followed that with a short email message, to which she also replied
promptly. I really liked her message, but I was busy at work, and it
wasn’t until a week later when she wrote me again on my birthday, that
I replied to her message.
We exchanged emails on almost an
hourly basis from then, on until one day we were both online at the
same time and chatted… for three hours! Amy really sounded too good to
be true, and I had to talk to her on the phone to see what this girl
was really about. The next day we spoke on the phone for over two
hours, and I was really impressed. I remember telling her that she was
a “delight.”
I believe it was on the second phone call that we
decided that we really needed to meet in person, since we seemed to be
so compatible. I have to say that by her pictures and personality, I
already had a big crush on her, and something inside told me that it
was a very VERY good thing.
I flew to Dallas on July 8th, 2004.
Meeting Amy was like meeting an old friend. Meeting her mom and friends
were like meeting relatives I hadn’t seen in a long time. I can’t
really describe it—but I knew right then and there, on that first day,
that something special had been given to us.
After meeting her a
few more times during the summer and fall, I realized that Amy was the
girl of my life, the girl of my dreams. She was the woman I would want
to grow old with, the woman I would want to help me raise my children.
It was a feeling I had never felt for anyone before. I wanted to marry
her and have her by my side on my journey to God. I was sure I could
help her, and that she could help me on that journey.
I proposed
to Amy right here in London, Ontario, Canada, on the steps of St.
Peter’s Basilica. It was Thanksgiving Day, and since we had so much to
be thankful for, I thought it was the perfect opportunity. The next
day, her parents and brother arrived from Seattle to meet my parents,
and we had a wonderful weekend with both our families.
Our
wedding is tentatively being planned for next summer (2005), and I look
forward to living the sacrament of holy matrimony with the person God
prepared for me for that very purpose. I hope that together we’ll never
forget that He put us on each other’s path, and we have Him to thank
for our happiness.
Thank you Catholic Match, for being the means
through which God gave me my Amy. We are so overwhelmed with God’s
blessings, and hope that it may encourage those of you who are still
waiting faithfully for the one God intends for you--it has definitely
been worth the wait for us!
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