Michael, 27, wasn’t content to casually date; he was waiting to find his soul mate. “I am of the belief that God places within each of our hearts a vision of the person we long to spend the rest of our lives with. Within my own heart, I've held the vision of a beautiful God-centered woman since I was a young man.”
He was okay being single until he found the ideal woman for him—and he wasn’t looking for a supermodel or perfection either. “I came to the point where I knew what characteristics I needed in a woman. If I knew from the onset there were major elements missing that my heart longed for, I didn't go any further,” Michael, from St. Paul, MN, says.
He had been on CatholicMatch since January of 2013, but he hadn’t really given it a chance. In June of 2014, he decided to take it seriously, and a month later something strange happened while he was praying the Rosary; he felt that Mary was giving him a clear message to do a profile search in Mexico. “As crazy as it sounds, I was inspired to give it a try; I felt like had nothing to lose.”
As soon he did the search, at the top of the page, there was Marilu, 23. At first, he was captivated by her beauty and then by what she had written in her profile.
“As superficial as it sounds, the very first thing I noticed about her was her beautiful profile picture. I knew the woman I was looking for had to be attractive to me and she was. This was the initial thing I noticed about her, but it definitely wasn't what made me message her or fall in love. As I read her profile, I could tell she had a heart of gold, and I absolutely loved that. I couldn't believe just how perfect she was for me; she loved to exercise, pray the Rosary, go to Mass, and was very big on family—something I admire so much because I am the oldest of nine children. I quickly noticed also that her views on the faith were very similar to mine,” he recalls.
He adds, “I wasn't sure if she would reply to a message because I lived in Minnesota and came from such a different culture. But I had to send a message and take a leap of faith because I would always wonder otherwise what could have been.”
The two hit it off, and Michael learned that Marilu had been planning for some time to come to Minneapolis for a marathon in October. Both of them were extremely excited to meet. They had high expectations because they had talked so much and felt so connected.
First Meeting
“In the blink of an eye, the time had come, and I was standing before her in downtown
Minneapolis. She was real, and all the good things I had discovered about her were true!”
The two shared a wonderful dinner, and they spent the next couple of evenings together until it was time for Marilu to return home. “I was so sad and knew I couldn't let her just walk away. So the night before she left, as crazy as it sounds, I asked her to be my girlfriend. I could never let her just fly away without her knowing I wanted to know and love her more.”
Marilu happily accepted, but then Michael wondered, “What would happen now?” They wouldn’t be able to have a normal dating relationship. He had a full-time job, so traveling to see her wasn’t going to be easy.
“The time away was so tough after tasting a Godly connection with the best woman I have ever met,” he shares.
Communication
To keep connected, they constantly texted throughout the day and did FaceTime every night. “As time moved on, I began to realize how strong this time away had made our communication skills. We began to know each other on a very deep and mature level that was not based solely on physical attraction. In the end, it was such a gift!”
Even though they were communicating well, there was a slight language barrier for the
two of them. Michael has had only a semester of Spanish class, so his knowledge of the Spanish language is rudimentary. Marilu speaks English fluently, but she finds it much more difficult to express her feelings in the English language compared to her native tongue. “In certain situations, my inability to speak and understand Spanish makes it difficult for Marliu to express herself,” he laments. “For me, just being able to understand her is much more important than being able to speak the language. I want to give her the gift of being able to talk to me in her native tongue.”
Flying Back and Forth
In December, they once again had a chance to speak face to face because Marilu came to visit Michael and his family. It was during her visit that Michael’s family came to understand why he was so crazy about her. “My family was hoping she was the one I'd be with forever. These few days in December only solidified my feelings for Marilu. Immediately I knew I needed to go meet her family and see what her life was all about.”
In January of 2015, he flew to Mexico for five days. He experienced some culture shock but in a good way. During this time, he fell in love with her family and more deeply in love with Marilu.
“Sadly, the time came again for me to go home. On the way back home, my heart was speaking to me so strongly; I knew and felt she was everything I wanted in a wife, so I began to save immediately for a ring and a trip back to Mexico.”
In March, he returned to Mexico with a gorgeous ring in his pocket. It took him a couple
of days to decide how he was going to propose. On the morning of March 17, on St. Patrick's Day, he planned to ask her at a restaurant. “My plan was to have the waitress bring the ring to me at the table, so I could romantically propose.”
But that is not what happened because Michael was so nervous about proposing he became ill and he nearly passed out. Marilu became so concerned that she wanted to take him to the hospital. He was about to go along with her plan because he felt so nauseous. Eating some food eased some of his symptoms, and they decided to leave the restaurant.
Out in the street with people milling around him, Michael felt inspired to say to Marilu, “There is something I need to ask you.” With the warm, morning light shining down on them, Michael looked her in the eyes and pulled out the ring box. “Luckily, she said yes to my not so smooth proposal. In an instant, so much emotion overcame us both. We were engaged!”
Planning the Wedding
In June of 2015, he was able to return to Mexico and spend a month with Marilu getting to know her better and planning their wedding set for May of 2016.
“It doesn't stop there. Because of my vacation time at work, I wasn't sure if I would be able to see her again for some time and due to her school, she wasn't sure if she could come to Minnesota either. But, by the blessings of God, we will be able to see each other every month September through December this year. Planning a wedding has only made us stronger, and it is another adventure we must trust God with. Something so small as trying out CatholicMatch has grown so big because it opened the doors to God. When you do that, all things are possible.”
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