The silence in the woods gave way only to the crackling of a small campfire. Snow surrounded the couple who snuggled together for warmth as they ate a picnic lunch far from the noise and chaos of life.
Meg had trouble enjoying the soup Andrew had prepared as she felt the anticipation rise with each passing minute. They had known each other for months and had talked for hours. They had chosen a ring together, which he customized for her. She was certain this was the time for him to ask her, but still he waited . . .
Opposites attract
“I would say we have similar interests, but different personalities,” Andrew, 32, said with a genuine smile. He leaned back in his chair as we spoke over Skype; he was casual and easy going.
Meg, 25, laughed, “When he visited last week, we hung out with some of our friends. We noticed he’s more of a listener, and I’m more chatty. I do a lot of theater, so I’m more of an outgoing-type person.” She was full of movement and expression with every word.
“And I’m into psychology,” Andrew continued his calm demeanor as he smiled again at the woman he loves.
A little nudge from above
When Meg met Andrew through CatholicMatch in August of 2015, she felt uncertain. She was in Minneapolis, and he was 19 hours away in Alberta, Canada. She was also still struggling with a recent break-up, so she prayed a novena to St. Philomena to help her discern what to do.
Meg explained, “I had just gotten out of a relationship, and wasn't quite ready to give my heart back to someone. But a voice—I'm convinced it was Philomena—kept telling me to go for it! And we eventually started texting back and forth, and the
n Skyping a lot.”
Andrew wasn’t sure about meeting someone online, but a close friend convinced him he should try. “I had long believed that online dating was for the desperate,” he said. “I thought that resorting to online dating meant I had given up.”
Normally a cautious person, he was immediately taken with Meg. “I loved Megan’s childlike whimsy: her interests in things like Science Fiction, table top games, and Disney. She was also a very attractive lady, with a classic beauty. She appreciated my sense of humor and was clever and intelligent,” he said.
Two goofballs in love
Within a few weeks of talking with Meg, Andrew knew she was the only one for him. He said, “It was actually very out of character for me because I am not an impulsive person at all. I like to plan everything down to a T. I like to think things over for a month before I decide that I want to make a decision, and yet two weeks into talking with Meg, I knew!”
Their conversations on Skype would last for hours. Their different personalities complemented each other, and their shared love of
movies, games, music, and books gave them plenty to discuss. It was easy for them to be honest and open with each other. As they discussed the more serious things of life, Meg knew she wanted to marry Andrew.
She shared, “When we first started talking about family and our hopes for the future, I could not see myself being with any other guy. I just couldn't. I knew in my heart that this adorable guy from northern Alberta, Canada was the one for me. We just fit together. His crazy matched my crazy. We're two goofballs in love, and it was just perfect.”
About two months after they met, Meg came home from work to find a surprise! “There he was on Skype, all dressed up, and he asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend. I said yes, and then we planned for his visit in December. The rest is history!” Meg recalled.
Their meeting in December in Minneapolis confirmed all their feelings for each other. Before Andrew went back home, they made plans for Meg to visit him in February. They continued to use Skype to talk every day, and their love for each other continued to grow.
Please propose, please propose!
They knew they wanted to get married. When Meg arrived in Andrew’s hometown, she had no doubt that
he would ask her to marry him. She had no idea when it would happen, though.
Meg laughed as she talked about it: “Driving out into the middle of nowhere, near the lake, and it was all romantic . . . and he had the camera set up! I was like, yeah, he’s going to propose! So a part of me was going, ‘Come on! Propose please!’ And another part of me was going, ‘Nope, not gonna rush it, he’s probably nervous, he’ll do this when it’s right. I’m just going to pretend that I don’t know what’s going on . . .'”
“I had no misconceptions that this wasn't going to be surprise,” Andrew said. “We picked the ring out together online, and then I had it custom made. So she knew what the ring was going to look like. The way I organized everything it was kind of obvious
what was happening, and I knew she was going to say yes. But I still had butterflies!”
Meg was exuberant as she remembered the proposal. She said, “It was amazing! It was dead quiet, and the snow was all glittery from the sun. He made a fire, and we had soup and chocolate covered strawberries. Then he got down on one knee in the snow and proposed. He wrote a poem. It was so adorable and romantic, and I was so happy! I screamed, ‘Yes!’”
Making plans for the future
Their different personalities spill over into how they approach their faith. Meg loves praying novenas, and she chats about her faith easily. Her mother and brother prayed a novena to St. Joseph before she joined CatholicMatch on his feast day, March 19, 2015.
Andrew is more reserved, although his beliefs run deep. His family had left the Church when he was in high school following a difficult ordeal with the local Catholic school. Andrew started going back to Mass just six years ago. “I actually rediscovere
d Mass with the Latin Mass, with the Fraternity Priests,” he explained.
After this semester, Andrew will finish his master's degree in psychology and will be moving to Minneapolis. He currently volunteers at a community youth center, and he hopes to continue that work professionally. They already know where they want to settle.
An unexpected turn of events for Meg and Andrew is that the priest who heard his ten year Confession is now in Minneapolis! They have decided to make his parish their future parish home, and he will be officiating their marriage ceremony in April of 2017. They plan to have a Latin Mass for their wedding, in which the readings will be in High Latin Chant, followed by the spoken English translation. They anticipate a large wedding, as family and friends from Canada are already making plans to attend.
Andrew and Meg were happily affectionate with one another as they sat and chatted. “Our long conversations brought us together more than anything else. There is no topic that is off limits for us and we have discussed our fears, our trials, our strengths, our weaknesses, our future and more,” Andrew said.
Meg adds, “We love
watching movies together, even when we are apart. We both find a movie that we both own and watch it together over Skype! When we are together, we like to sing Disney songs in the car, cook together—just being together is fun!”
They both want those who are looking for their lifelong love to be encouraged. “Don't be afraid to take a chance! God has a plan for each of us, and there's a special someone out there for you when the time is right. He will make sure that you meet them, usually when you least expect it,” Meg says.
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