Never Underestimate the Power of a Good Wingman

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One rainy Easter Vigil night, after prodding from her roommate Erin, Monica decided to take a leap and join CatholicMatch.

Monica, 23, knew devout Catholic couples who had met online, and wanted to open that door if God wanted to lead her to a marriage that way. The very first week she joined, she began talking to a wonderful young man named Caleb. Monica says the first thing that attracted her to Caleb was how he genuinely read her profile. “(He) was interested in who I was and not just what my picture looked like.”

They moved quickly from talking via CatholicMatch to talking over the phone and Skyping. At this time, Caleb was living in Wisconsin, and Monica was going to school in Ohio, although she is originally from Illinois. Both of them say that from the start, their conversations seemed to move effortlessly and they couldn't wait until the next time that they would get to talk to each other again.

Caleb, 25, had been on and off CatholicMatch for about three years, and knew he’d found something special in Monica.

“(She) was very quiet, but asked specific questions. I could tell that she was serious about finding a person to marry. Her kindness obviously sh

owed and I loved how she smiled at my strange stories!”

The couple had been getting to know each other for 3 weeks when Erin decided it was time to intervene again. Remember how she prodded Monica to join online dating in the first place? Turns out, she wasn’t done matchmaking yet! Unbeknownst to Monica, Erin reached out to Caleb with a special idea.

She asked him to consider flying from Wisconsin to Ohio to surprise his sweetheart at the spring formal dance at Franciscan University. Erin knew how much Monica liked Caleb, so she did what all good friends do: stole his contact information and set up a secret date!

In bold style, Caleb seized the chance to create a love story unlike any other.

He jumped on board with Erin’s scheme and tackled the obstacles on his end. He rearranged his whole work schedule, went shopping for a suit, and booked a flight. The formal was in just a few days, so Caleb had to move fast! Meanwhile, Erin was keeping Monica busy, so she wouldn’t sniff out the plot. Monica had been planning to attend the dance with just friends this year, and Erin didn’t want anything to look fishy!

On the day of the dance, Monica found herself musing about how nice it would have been to have Caleb at the dance, too. “If I had only started talking with him a few months earlier,” she thought, “Then maybe I could have asked him to come with me.”

She dismissed the thought as wishful thinking, because of course, it was too late now to change anything.

Or was it? Erin had recruited help in the form of her other two roommates, who kept Monica busy upstairs as they waited with bated breath for the plan to unfold. Soon, the doorbell rang!  Her friends shooed Monica down the stairs to answer the door. Monica, still a little bewildered, opened the door and almost passed out—there was Caleb standing on the front porch! He presented her with a bouquet of flowers and asked her to attend Spring Formal with him. Monica was thrilled that her wishful thinking had come true.

Their relationship only grew from there. The couple says the biggest challenge was juggling all the changes they went through together. Not only did they have to balance their relationship time with family and work, but Monica also graduated college and began a new career. At the same time, Caleb picked up graduate school on top of his full-time job. Changes like this require a lot of energy, and the hours of distance between them didn’t help.

As with most long-distance couples, they learned to prioritize their time to make date weekends a possibility. Caleb notes he had to ensure he reserved energy so he could continue pursuing Monica. Despite the busyness of life, they discovered mutual loves of swing dancing, cooking together, and praying together, activities which would remain staples in their deepening relationship.

After just eight months of dating, Caleb knew he’d found the one for him.

He states, “Monica is the sweetest person I have ever met—she loves God and family. We have very good communication and continuously compromise and give of ourselves. It was easy to fall in love with her because of our shared values!”

Monica, for her part, knew Caleb was marriage material because of how well he fit with her family.  “I fell more and more in love with how gentle, patient and loving he was. When I was with him, I always felt at peace and knew that he was the type of man I wanted as a future husband and father to my children!”

Caleb pulled out all the stops for his proposal. He planned a very special evening and hired a film team to capture every moment! To watch the proposal and hear how he wanted their engagement to be centered on God, click here.

Spoiler alert: Monica said yes!

Their wedding is set for July 5th, 2019 in Illinois. When asked what they most admire about each other, Monica states, “I appreciate how deeply rooted Caleb’s faith is. Knowing that we make decisions based off our faith has been truly a blessing.”

“She supports me as I pursue further development in education, career, faith, and personal goals,” Caleb adds. “She challenges me to be a better man.”

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