Melinda, 27, from Washington, was looking for Mr. Right, and she wasn’t having any luck finding him. She thought this might be because most of the folks who attended Mass in her parish were older, so in January of 2015, she decided to give CatholicMatch a try. Melinda was a member on the site for about a month when she came across Paul, 32, also from Washington.
Melinda sent Paul a message just in time. His subscription would be ending in a couple of months, and he had decided he would not renew his membership.
Without success, he had been on CatholicMatch for three years looking for a Catholic wife who would be his best friend.
The day Melinda messaged Paul was the day his luck changed. Looking at her profile, he found her instantly appealing. Her profile was filled out in great detail, so Paul was able to learn a lot about Melinda. “I was drawn in by her passion for sports (Seahawks), the fact that she practiced her Catholic faith, and her compassion for patients as a nurse," he says.
Initially, Melinda had been drawn to Paul’s smile, but it was his sense of humor that really got her.
He Made Her Feel Special
Because they live in the same state, Paul asked Melinda out on a date shortly after meeting. Approximately three weeks after Melinda joined, on January 24, 2015, they went on their first date. The couple spent an enjoyable day attending EMP (Experience Music Project) Museum in Seattle. “We enjoyed lunch at the museum and then had coffee and talked for a couple of hours,” he recalls.
Melinda remembers that he made her feel like she was the only person in the room—a quality that has carried through their relationship.
Paul’s older brother met his wife online on a different dating site, so Paul meeting Melinda online didn’t faze his family, and his friends were supportive. Melinda’s family and friends were also supportive, but they were curious as to how the process works.
The Birth of the Mega Date
Even though Paul and Melinda didn’t live very far apart, they lived on different sides of the Puget Sound, which meant they had the hassle of taking a 30-minute ferry ride. This coupled with Melinda having to work every other weekend because she is a nurse made it difficult for them to see each other as often as they would have liked.
"We had to get creative on being able to spend time together, as my dad would say, we went on ‘mega dates’ as in we would spend all day together,” Melinda says.
One of those first “Mega Dates” they went to Mussel Fest in Coupeville, Washington. “Paul had his first mussel, and I took him to Oak Harbor and showed him where my sister and I spent our summers with our grandparents.”
Unexpected Proposal
By September 2015, Paul and Melinda had been discussing marriage. “We both knew it was a ‘when’ not an ‘if’,'” she says. They had been looking at rings together, but Melinda wanted the choice to be ultimately Paul’s. “Based off of conversations, I figured that he would propose around Christmas."
Melinda's birthday is at the end of October, so Paul took some time off of work to spend the week with her. He asked her if she wanted to go on a date night on November 3rd in downtown Seattle, and he told her to make sure she dressed up.
“I still didn't catch on that he was going to propose. He asked if I would be willing to take the monorail from Seattle Center to downtown Seattle. I thought it was odd, but I agreed. We parked by the EMP Museum and we started reminiscing about our first date and how we had first met at the top of these steps nine months ago.
Paul was setting the mood for his proposal, but Melinda was still clueless about his intentions.
“When we got to the top of the steps, he stopped and he told me he loved me and that these had been the best nine months of his life. Then he got down on one knee and proposed. And, of course, my answer was ‘Yes!’"
They celebrated by having dinner downtown. After dinner, Melinda’s sister came and took some pictures of them.
The couple was married on July 23, 2016, at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in North Seattle with a reception afterward at The Washington Athletic Club in downtown Seattle.
