This College Student's Roommate was Tired of Her Being Single

One night, Naomi, 22, came home to find her roommate, who was engaged, waiting to talk to

her. She told Naomi, "I'm tired of you being single;  you're never going to find someone in our tight knit friend group."

Naomi's recalls her roommate exclaiming, "'I'm going to change that!' She went on her computer and started setting up a dating profile for me on CatholicMatch. I thought this was hilarious, so I grabbed a glass of wine and plunked down next her, ready to be entertained."

The next day, Naomi decided to actually give CatholicMatch a try. She re-wrote her whole profile, “Putting my heart into it this time.” A few of her girlfriends came over later that day to look for a man for Naomi. “We had not gone past the first page of our search when I saw Roman’s profile. I had always loved the name Roman, but it wasn't the name that caught my eye at first—it was his tanned and handsome face, and his easygoing and sincere grin.” Naomi looked at his profile and liked what she saw of his personality: “An ardent Catholic, a soccer fan, an adrenaline junkie, and a goofball,” recalls Naomi.

After she saw Roman’s profile, also 22, she decided she needed to step back and be patient. “I am very traditional so I wanted to let him make the first move, which was perfect because he has traditional values too.” She didn’t have to wait long; the next morning Roman sent Naomi a smiley face because he had not paid for a full account yet. “I was so happy when I got his message that I ran and woke up my roommates,” laughs Naomi.

After sending smileys back and forth for a few days, Roman purchased a full account and sent Naomi a message. Naomi promptly purchased a membership just so she could read his message. After those first messages, Naomi and Roman began to Skype and they kept it up every day—for four hours everyday—until they met in person.

“I think we realized how serious we were about our relationship when both of us deleted our dating accounts—only weeks after meeting each other on those same accounts.”

When they started talking online, Naomi was in Ottawa and Roman was in Vaughan, which are over four hours apart. “In December, I finished up my degree in Ottawa and had already planned to move back to Etobicoke (not 30 minutes from his house). That God would bring us into each others lives as I finished my 4 years in Ottawa and was in the process of moving very near Vaughan was incredible,” exclaims Naomi.

After talking online for nearly two months, the couple had their first date when Naomi went

back to Etobicoke for Christmas. “Both of us were crazy nervous! I got off at the wrong bus stop without realizing it and he had to drive a lot farther to pick me up. It wasn’t until days later that I realized my mistake.”

After Roman picked Naomi up, the couple went for lunch. “I was starving, so I gulped down all my food, only to look up and see that Roman has hardly touched his food. I later learned that he doesn't eat when he's nervous. I also ended up walking around for a while with salad stuck in my teeth.”

On their way out of the mall, they found a photo booth and took their first pictures together. “I was laughing so hard that I never knew that he was trying to give me a kiss... Our first kiss. Finally, I stopped laughing long enough for him to kiss me on the cheek.”

As they walked out to the car, Roman turned to Naomi, “smiling nervously,” and asked her to be his girlfriend. “With butterflies in my stomach and a grin, I said yes,” remembers Naomi. After that, the couple went ice skating, “He literally slated circles around me! He took care of me and my shaky legs; it was very sweet.” Roman also went outside the box of first date ideas and took Naomi to play Bingo. “It was a blast,” says Naomi. That night when he dropped her off, Roman met Naomi’s parents.

Naomi wanted Roman to meet her parents after their first date because her dad is very protective. “He wanted to check out this guy who I was so crazy about.” Naomi says that in the five years she’s been going on dates, her father has never once approved of a guy that she’d showed interest in. That streak ended with Roman. “He loves Roman; my father trusts Roman and sees him as part of our family.”

Roman’s family also approves of the match. “Roman’s mother saw an article about CatholicMatch in Catholic Digest and she encouraged him to join so he could finally find a like-minded girl.”

Naomi says that since they started dating 11 months ago, she and Roman have bonded over everything. They attend Humber College in Toronto together, where they are working to specialize their degrees, and they have also traveled to the United States and Central America. God has also remained at the center of their relationship, “Every Sunday. we go to church together and we study the bible—we are growing closer to each other and closer to God.” In addition, they enjoy rockclimbing, traveling, bowling, hiking, exploring, school, car racing, fan shows, and spending time with family. “When I first saw his profile, I was attracted to him because he seemed like he was so chill, easygoing, and loved adventures. And that has definitely been true! We are each others best friends,” says Naomi.

However, this doesn’t mean their relationship has been perfect. “We have had struggles about

balancing priorities in our lives, but we really are on the same page now. We also had to fight to make sure everyone in our lives saw us as a united team, and a few times we had to make it clear to both our families that we would make our own choices as adults in a long term relationship. We have set boundaries and are a really strong team. In our almost one year of dating, we have handled death of loved ones together, family tragedy, and much more. God has been so good to us.”

Naomi and Roman are not engaged, but he has asked her what kind of ring she wants. “We are both students, so we’re just waiting for finances to be a bit more stable. He keeps hinting at proposing, but I'm sure he's going to make it some huge surprise. Both of our families know we are planning to get married in 2018 and they are very excited,” exclaims Naomi.

“Ever since I was a girl, I have always prayed for one thing: someone who loves God and who I can share in the crazy adventures of life with. Roman is my miracle.”