Roddy came to Minnesota looking to rebuild his life and he came to CatholicMatch looking for a virtuous woman to do it with. The 24-year-old relocated from Alaska after a messy breakup that left him deep in debt. When it came to finding some female companionship, he wanted no part of the bar scene and decided to go online in the hopes of finding someone more mature.
In November 2010, Roddy crossed paths with 21-year-old Kate, from the same small town on the St. Croix River. They came from completely different backgrounds. Kate was the oldest of seven children and a devout Catholic who always made time for a weekly Holy Hour.
Roddy candidly admitted his own lifestyle in Alaska was less than that, including the relationship with a woman that had left him staring at a $35,000 debt. But he had made the decision to change, Kate saw the good in him and within a week of their initial meeting, Roddy and Kate were having dinner at a local Perkins restaurant.
“When we sat down and talked, I immediately fell in love with her smile and her laugh,” Roddy recalled. “She fell in love with my quirkiness and strong personality.”
From shared faith to physical attraction to feeling like they'd known each other forever, Roddy & Kate were meant for each other.
They also found they had much in common, starting with Faith—Roddy was also making it a habit to go to the Adoration chapel. He was drawn to the strength and depth of her faith. “This woman wanted to be a saint more than anything,” he told CatholicMatch. “That sealed the deal for me.” The strength of faith provided the foundation for their physical attraction to each other and a natural flow of conversation to grow.
Roddy and Kate had challenges to meet. He was dealing with some residual bitterness of the breakup that cost him emotionally, as well as left him working three jobs to dig out of debt. “Kate could tell I wasn’t over the last relationship yet,” he said. “But Kate and I knew that we had great potential together, so we stuck it out.”
For her part, Kate had to deal with an ex-boyfriend of her own that was proving somewhat problematic. As her relationship with Roddy strengthened, and it became apparent to the ex he wasn’t getting her back, Kate began receiving numerous phone calls and an ominous text saying he was coming to her house.
Roddy was aware of the situation and the night the ex talked about coming to Kate’s house, he went and waited outside. “I had absolutely no game plan whatsoever if he did show up and was aggressive,” Roddy recalled. “But I had to protect my lady.” The old boyfriend didn’t show, but the police did—as it turned out, there had been a theft nearby and standing outside milling around had made Roddy look suspicious. Not until the officer spoke to Kate—who’d gone to bed and slept soundly through the fiasco—was the crisis averted.
Roddy & Kate persisted through hard times, both individually and as a couple, and in June 2013, they will be wed.
