"Only when I stopped using CatholicMatch as a way to find my perfect match did I finally happen across my perfect match!" Stephen, 32, says.
Emily, 32, adds, “You really can’t know if someone is potentially going to be your spouse just by reading their dating profile; you have to take the time to get to know someone first.”
That's exactly what Emily did, and now she and Stephen are happily married.
She ended up giving him a chance.
In February 2019, when Stephen began messaging Emily on CatholicMatch, she’d just purchased a home in Florida. Therefore, she didn’t feel keen on pursuing a long-distance relationship with someone from Tennessee. However, she noticed that Stephen had taken the time to read her profile carefully, so she gave him a chance.
“Whenever I looked at someone’s profile to determine if I wanted to message them or engage in a reply back, I asked myself ‘Is this someone I’d like to have a conversation with?’” she explains. “Based on his profile, Stephen seemed like a nice enough guy to at least have a conversation.”
Even though she decided to give Stephen a chance, Emily didn’t think their friendship would get off the ground.
Just as she began to like him, Stephen’s work got complicated.
Allowing herself to get to know Stephen changed her mind about him. She felt like she really might like Stephen. However, after two months of dating, their relationship started to stall. Stephen, who serves in the military, experienced snowballing work difficulties. He didn't even have time to call Emily some weeks.
“Given the craziness of my life at the time, I also doubted the viability of dating, let alone a long-distance relationship,” says the 32-year-old.
However, Stephen found his communications with Emily became the highlight of his day.
“Every time I talked or messaged with her, I felt both at ease and like I had found a great friend,” he recalls
Stephen wanted to make it work despite the obstacles of work and distance. It helped that Emily worked with him to find a solution.
Then, it was time to meet in person...
The couple felt like they needed to meet each other in person. They both wanted to know if the relationship had potential, but Stephen couldn’t break away long enough from his job to get to Florida to see her. Emily stepped up and offered to meet Stephen in Nashville over Easter weekend.
“Stephen showed excitement about it!" she remembers.
“It confirmed for me that she felt the same way and her level of commitment,” he adds.
“He even paid for my hotel room and made me feel very comfortable about taking the risk to visit,” she says.
There were no unhappy surprises!
“When I first arrived at the airport to pick her up, I felt nervous—almost reckless,” Stephen shares. "But it also felt right."
From the moment they saw each other face-to-face, they felt natural with each other. “It immediately seemed that we both sensed that we were exactly what the other had perceived,” Stephen explains.
By the end of their visit, they discovered how much they had in common and how much they respected one another.
“Our final day, we went for a walk before I had to take her back to the airport. For the first time in my life, the schedule seemed to disappear. We sat together under a tree in the grass and just chatted like old friends,” he says. “I felt closer to her than I had been to almost anyone else I had ever dated.”
Leaving Emily at the airport, Stephen shares, “I seemed like I was losing my right hand. I knew that my life had changed in a wonderful new way.”
That's why they clicked!
“I always thought Emily looked pretty, but what really started attracting me more to her was her confidence and all we had in common,” he says.
Stephen also appreciated how much common ground they shared in family matters and faith. He felt impressed that Emily had purchased her own house, had her style, and showed confidence enough to step out on her own and take full ownership of her life.
“These traits have inspired me since our first date, and continue to inspire me,” he says.
As Emily got to know Stephen, she saw a kind and hard-working man, which she found attractive. She liked that he’d dedicated some of his life to discerning the priesthood in seminary. She also appreciated his generous spirit and cheerful nature.
“He always does small acts of kindness for me every day without having to be asked. He’s also good at helping me to see the good in every type of situation we encounter,” she shares.
He planned an earlier than expected proposal.
Stephen told Emily that he planned to look for an engagement ring. She assumed that a Thanksgiving or Christmas proposal posed the most likely scenario. After all, they only saw each other once a month.
But then he surprised her by proposing during his visit over Veterans Day weekend 2019.
“Stephen asked to stop and pray at a beautiful, outdoor Marian grotto. There he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I felt shocked, and I didn’t answer right away,” she shares.
He adds, “I spent a ton of time reflecting, praying, and discerning if Emily was the right one before I bought the ring, but once I had it, it was just a matter of how and when to ask.”
But, their wedding was canceled twice!
The couple basked in the engagement glow, with everything going so well, until 2020. In 2020, first, the military almost deployed Stephen, and then COVID-19 struck, bringing with it travel restrictions.
“These events, complicated things and added a ton of stress as we tried to predict the future and find new ways plan our wedding,” she says.
They had their wedding planned for June 2020 in Tampa, FL, but travel restrictions forced them to postpone the wedding twice.
“It became clear that the Florida wedding couldn't work. We ended up canceling it altogether,” she shares. “This was a heartbreaking conclusion to come to, but Stephen and I got through it together. We were much closer as a result. With just two months to plan, we planned a much smaller wedding in Virginia—for August 2020—where we were moving.
Stephen shares, “In the end the good Lord showed us a better way than we could have imagined, and everything came together well, but we both had to let go of our dreams and plans a bit.”
In June 2021, the couple welcomed a baby girl into their family.
