When Linda, 65, opened Henry’s message, she was intrigued by his writing style, his dedication to family, his spirituality, and his honesty. “I would never have contacted him. First, because he is almost nine years older than me, and because he is from New York and I live in Alabama.”
In her reply to Henry’s message, Linda brought her concerns about the age difference and the geographic distance. Henry told her, "Maybe we could just become very close friends."
Henry Was Too Wonderful for Linda to Resist
The two had been only messaging back and forth for a couple of days when Linda realized that those things didn’t matter. She told Henry: “‘If I can't have Henry or someone 'just like Henry,' I don't want another man in my life.’”
A few weeks later, the end of June 2014, Henry had bought an iPhone, so that the two of them could make video calls using FaceTime. “This was a wonderful way to really get to know one another. We Facetimed every night for an hour and a half or two hours. It was like being right with each other. Unlike talking on the phone, it allowed us to read each other's body language and really get to know each other quickly,” she says.
The two would pray together daily. “One of the most important things about our compatibility is that we are spiritually yoked,” she says. "We pray the Divine Office evening prayer, or Chaplet of Divine Mercy, Rosary, or other traditional Catholic prayers. Neither of us had had the opportunity to do this with our former spouses. It is wonderful.”
In their talks, she discovered Henry's dedicated and loving nature. Henry had been married for 50 years. His wife had been ill for the last five and half years of their marriage, so he retired from his job, so he could stay home and care for her until her death in 2013.
Linda had been married for 42 years, but she left her abusive husband in 2009. "In 2011, I was granted a civil divorce, and then I started the Catholic annulment process. An annulment was granted February 2014. I had stayed with my spouse because of my Catholic upbringing and never knew I had the right to get out of the abusive situation until circumstances dictated it was time. God gave me the grace to follow through," she explains.
Henry was More Important than a Trip
They decided to take a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, and they bought tickets in early November. Two weeks before they could go on the trip Henry fell sick and had to have a serious surgical procedure. “We were both enrolled and fully paid for a pilgrimage to Medjugorje. Yet, Linda thought enough of me to cancel her pilgrimage (cost in the thousands) and help me over the rough spots during my recovery,” Henry recalls.
Linda says, “I had arranged for the time off from work, so I spent it with him at his lovely home in Olean, N.Y. It was a deal clincher for both of us.”
Not long after her visit, Henry visited Linda in Alabama. He visited a second time, and it was then that he popped the question.
He Wasn't an Axe Murder
"When I announced that I was flying to N.Y. to visit Henry, some people said: 'What if this guy is an axe murderer? How do you know anything about him just talking online?' My mother, who is 87 years old, said the same thing. I assured them that I had spent hours and hours face-to-face with Henry, seeing his home and cats and praying and having the time of my life. I was certain he was not an axe murderer.
Linda says her youngest daughter, Elena, wasn't worried by meeting someone on CatholicMatch. In 2009, Elena met her husband, Sam, on CatholicMatch. "She was thrilled that I was using one of the best resources possible to find a spouse," beams Linda.
Small Wedding
“We got married at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church on March 14, 2015. It was a small, simple ceremony followed by the Saturday night vigil Mass. Afterwards, we and our 27 guests enjoyed a lovely meal at a party room in a local restaurant. Many said it was the most wonderful wedding they had ever attended.”
The couple plans to live in Alabama. Henry advises members not to get hung up on wanting to meet someone close by; he says for them overcoming the distance together strengthened their relationship and had made them feel, that with God’s help, they can make any situation workable.
“CatholicMatch is undoubtedly chock full of Linda’s and Henry’s, trying to find their soulmates next door—right close to home—when their special someone [living any number miles away] is just waiting for that message or emotigram."
