Daniel: Catherine and I talked
online for the first time on February 13th, 2005, but our story really
started about a year earlier. I had sent Catherine a smile when I first
signed up on the site, but I got no response, because though I didn’t
know it, she was talking to someone else on Catholic Match. I somewhat
lost interest in the website because I started talking to someone I met
at school.
Around January 2005, both of us, without each others’
knowledge realized that the other people we were talking to were not
really compatible with us for a romantic relationship. We both
refocused on finding someone more compatible through Catholic Match. In
January of 2005 I sent Catherine a second smile, because I had found
her profile very interesting a year before and I was still interested
in talking to her. This time she responded by sending me a chat
invitation.
Catherine:
When I received the second smile from Daniel I didn’t realize at first
that he had in fact sent me a smile one year earlier. I read his
profile and was excited because it seemed like we had a lot in common.
I wasn’t sure if I should respond to him with a smile, but when I
happened to see him online late one night I decided to go ahead and
send him a chat invitation. To my delight, he accepted and we ended up
talking for a few hours that night. When I realized that our
conversation had gone into February 14th, I wished Daniel a Happy
Valentine’s Day.
Daniel:
From the first conversation we had online I thought Catherine was
really sweet and easy to talk to. We seemed to have everything in
common and even in our first conversation, we had no awkward moments.
After that first conversation we were both always eager to talk to each
other online for a couple hours every night. After a few days, I asked
Catherine for her phone number. When I called her the following
Saturday we talked all night, literally. It was even easier to talk on
the phone than online, and I was struck by the beauty of Catherine’s
voice.
Catherine: Lucky
for us, we had free cell phone minutes because we would talk for three
to four hours nightly and sometimes longer on weekends. After a few
weeks of daily phone conversations, Daniel and I both felt we were
ready to meet in person. I was beyond thrilled when Daniel suggested
that we meet the first Saturday in April.
Daniel:
On April 2nd, I drove three hours from San Jose to Fresno to meet
Catherine for the first time. We spent a wonderful day together, going
to lunch, a movie, and even spending time before the Blessed Sacrament
at Adoration. I had intended to leave for my drive home before dark,
but we couldn’t stop talking and just stood in her driveway for two
hours trying to say goodbye.
Catherine:
Daniel and I officially became boyfriend and girlfriend on April 11,
2005, just nine short days after meeting in person for the first time
and about six weeks after talking online. We have truly fallen in love
with each other and couldn’t be happier. We are fortunate that the
distance between us has not been much of an issue and we have managed
to see each other, at minimum, every weekend for over a year now. Even
while Daniel was studying abroad in Ireland for a semester our love
grew stronger and we managed to arrange a weekend meeting in Boston
halfway through his term because we couldn’t stand to be apart.
Daniel:
I feel so lucky and blessed to have Catherine in my life, and I am
totally in love with her. We know that God meant for us to be together,
and we have planned to get married when we’re both out of college in
about three years. We are both looking forward to spending our lives
together, and we can’t wait to write a success story about our
engagement when that time comes.
