“So I got an e-mail from CatholicMatch today saying my membership is expiring soon.”
I put down my fork and peered into my boyfriend’s face with raised eyebrows, willing him to continue. He propped his elbows on the restaurant table and leaned in toward me.
“I think I might just let it expire,” he said with a mischievous grin. “I think things are going OK.”
I sat back in my chair and let out a relieved laugh at his understated analysis of our relationship. It was only a few weeks ago that he spoke those three powerful words for the first time, so I knew that his CatholicMatch membership status would not be up for discussion.
Could it really be six months, I thought to myself, since he hesitantly joined this site, with me following shortly after?
My CatholicMatch boyfriend is one of the first people who contacted me when I joined the site in late September of last year. He sent a simple emotigram with a shout-out to our shared alma mater. That simple emotigram turned into inbox messages that confirmed for me early on that this man was someone I wanted to meet in person very soon.
Well, very soon turned into weeks as I waited for him to suggest a face-to-face meeting. I finally took the initiative and suggested a casual meeting on a weekday to see if our online connection would transfer into the real world. Even though we nearly missed each other in the restaurant since we naively didn’t share phone numbers ahead of time, our first date was something I will never forget.
The conversation flowed easily, and the physical attraction was instant. As he spoke fondly about his family, his faith and his journey to CatholicMatch, I nodded as my experiences were oddly similar. Hours later, after completely forgetting to order dinner and after I absentmindedly left my cell phone on the table, he asked for my number and when I arrived back at my apartment, I already had a text message thanking me for our date.
Months later, I’m relishing in those early memories, all of which occurred because of CatholicMatch and our trust in the Holy Spirit who continues to lead us. Entering the online dating world was a foreign concept for both of us, but I can tell you that it works. There are no guarantees on the timing, as I admit that I was lucky to find my boyfriend so early on in the process, but I believe that you can find love here. I know I did.
When my boyfriend’s account expires at the end of this month, I plan to remove my account too and mark that day on my calendar. I will never forget the date of our first in-person meeting, and I intend to never to forget the day that we officially take our former online relationship completely offline.
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