In March 2020, upon hearing Australia was closing its borders, Michelle frantically looked for return flights. Her head shot up in surprise when she noticed William go down on one knee and utter the words, "Will you marry me?"
It all started with a blue shirt and an emoji!
Michelle, from Brisbane, Australia, had recently finished a Novena to St Anne at the end of July 2019 when God answered her prayers to find a spouse. On CatholicMatch, she saw the profile of a handsome guy dressed in a blue shirt. Like her, William felt serious about his faith, so Michelle decided to send a “hello” emoji.
He responded very shortly after that, and we both stopped talking to anyone else, shares Michelle, 38.
In September, after exchanging many messages and texts, Michelle and William had their first phone call. The first phone conversation went fantastic—despite Michelle’s worry that they would run out of things to say—and the couple ended up talking for over four hours.
“Needless to say, I hung up from the call feeling very happy and excited with the outcome,” she recalls.
He made her feel loved.
Like Michelle and William’s first phone call, their first Skype conversation, a week later, went amazingly well. Any jitters about seeing each other for the first time were quickly put at ease. They both thought this boded well for the future of their relationship.
Michelle and William had many more conversations, and one aspect that attracted Michelle to William was how deeply he felt things. She liked that he didn't just feel things but also acted accordingly.
“I felt impressed when he told me about how he cared for his parents through illness for many years until their deaths when he was only just out of school,” she shares. “William's parents passed within months of each other. I had lost my mother and my brother in a short period of time. I think that bonded us; we both had lost loved ones we felt close to.”
Michelle also liked how William knew her very early on. “His insights were very accurate and that made me feel deeply loved and accepted,” she reveals.
A visit cut short...
On March 9th, 2020, William picked Michelle up from the airport before work. “Seeing her smiling ear-to-ear, after such a long flight, surprised me,” says William, 42, from Philadelphia. “I also noticed she wore a dress that I had liked.”
Michelle added, “It felt amazing to finally see him in person.”
After only ten days of seeing some of the sites in Philly, eating Williams's delicious homecooked meals, and enjoying movies together, Michelle had to cut her visit short due to COVID and Australia closing its borders.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking to have to leave early,” she recalls.
He's on one knee!
Sitting in William’s apartment, Michelle scrambled to book a flight online. She couldn’t believe that she had to leave so soon. While she scanned the flights, she looked up to see William on bended knee.
Feeling some urgency because of the virus’s impact on travel, William asked Michelle, “Will you marry me?”
Even though they had discussed marriage prior to Michelle coming to Philadelphia, Michelle says she still felt surprised when William popped the question. It also wasn’t the kind of proposal she envisioned.
“His proposal couldn't have been more low-key—and quite different to what I had imagined if it ever happened—but, this is real life,” she shares. “Of course, I said ‘Yes!’”
Saying ‘goodbye’
Michelle shares, “It felt hard saying goodbye, but I am incredibly grateful that we could meet and I could return to Australia before the borders closed.”
Initially, Michelle had hopes that William could come to visit her in a few months, but the borders remain closed, possibly until mid-2022.
“We Trust in God's Providence and His loving care for us,” they say. “It is incredibly hard, but God has a plan for us. We just need to wait a bit longer.”
Michelle adds, “Sometimes love comes a little later than we expect. Sometimes it takes a bit longer to be together. To those who are going through similar, don't give up. God has you!”
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