As a United States Marine, 23-year-old Robert is ready to go anywhere in the world in the service of his country. When it came time to look for his spouse on CatholicMatch, he was a little more restricted. A native of Nebraska, he vowed never to leave the Cornhusker State—“especially for a girl.”
Maggie, 22, was in Illinois and had joined the site a week prior to Robert. She was interested in finding any old high school friends, but she decided to run a broad-based search looking for possible romantic connections. Especially attracted to men who have joined the military, Robert’s profile photo in his Marine Corps blues instantly drew her to him.
She viewed his profile, but did not initiate contact, believing that to be the proper province of the male. In fact, her own profile stated that clearly, as Robert found out when he return viewed her. Now as committed as Robert is to Nebraska, he loves a challenge even more and he saw Maggie’s words as just that. He reached out and made the first connection.
After a month of relying on the CatholicMatch chat feature, Maggie finally offered Robert her phone number. He got up the nerve to call and the conversation went long into the night. So much so that it created a problem for Robert. He kept dropping hints to Maggie about the next morning—“It’s going to be an early morning for me…Tomorrow we are gonna run 6 miles.” It was a mandatory Marine workout, but with the phone conversation going well he didn’t want to be the one to cut it off. Finally be 3 AM there was no choice, as he admitted to her that he had to be up in a couple hours. “She finally got the hint,” Robert chuckled to CatholicMatch.
The morning workout may have been tough, but it was an amazing conversation though it was eight months before they could meet face-to-face, the couple kept getting to know each other via the telephone and electronic communication. After their meeting, they traveled regularly between Illinois, Nebraska and Arizona, where Robert is presently stationed. “We’ve had a difficult time because of the distance,” Robert candidly admitted. “But it has made us stronger.”
The self-described trials and tribulations over these past 2 ½ years have helped prepare them for what they expect to be an amazing life together after they are married next year. Robert graciously credited CatholicMatch, but it’s the reverse that’s true. CatholicMatch credits him and his future Marine wife for their selfless service to the United States and wishes them all the best in the future. .
