Lori, 55, wasn’t dating or even interested in dating, but she kept noticing the CatholicMatch ad in her church bulletin. She decided to join to see if it was a good dating site to recommend to her single, Catholic friends.
What CatholicMatch had to offer impressed her right away. "I really liked how you can find out a ton of information about a potential date before you ever meet!” Lori, from St. Louis, MO, shared, “It was pretty neat that people could 'date' in jammies and slippers from home!”
After being a member for six months, Lori got a message from Alan. It was Lori’s older daughter who encouraged her to check out Alan’s message. She had been monitoring her mom’s messages to encourage her to remain active.
“My daughter read Alan’s profile before I did when he first contacted me, and was amazed. She said, ‘Mom, he’s your twin!’ I was like, ‘What? Let me see that,’” she recalls fondly.
He had joined because of his co-worker!
Despite thinking online dating was a crazy concept, Alan, 62, also from Missouri, made a profile to support a co-worker whose children were pestering him to try it.
“After time on other sites, I came across the CatholicMatch site and decided to give it a try,” he says. “My CatholicMatch dating experience was good, in fact great, because I met Lori [a couple of months after joining].”
After reading Lori’s profile, Alan thought they would hit it off because they aligned well with their beliefs. He reached out to Lori first.
They were definitely equally yoked...
Lori liked Alan right off the bat because he was easy to talk to, smart, kind, and handsome. They shared wonderful conversations about the church, the world, local affairs, and a bunch of other topics. She thought his insights were wise.
“Unfortunately, it took many relationship mistakes during my life to recognize just how stable, peaceful, and well-balanced we are [as a couple]," says Lori, whose first marriage was annulled. “I felt we were equally yoked in a Biblical sense."
Alan, whose first marriage was also annulled, thought Lori seemed beautiful inside and out. He liked how energetic and holy she seemed. He also appreciated how in touch she was with her femininity.
“I like how she loved being a woman,” he says.
He felt touched by Heaven!
Not long after their first CatholicMatch message, on August 19, 2019, Alan and Lori met in person. They both thought it was the quickest way to see whether they should continue their relationship. Alan chose a restaurant nearer to Lori’s home. Driving for over an hour, he arrived at the restaurant first.
“Already at the table, Alan stood when I got there and waved me over. It was a gesture that eased my nerves immediately,” she recalls.
Seeing Lori in person, Alan thought she was “beautiful and lively.”
After enjoying a meal together, Lori asked Alan if he wanted to walk over to Lowe’s with her. She needed to return something, and the store was just across the parking lot. “What man wouldn’t want to do that?” he laughs.
“I saw she was extending the date, which was awesome. Then we walked to a local coffee shop. I was just in awe of her. It felt like God put me in front of this heavenly holy woman. When she hugged me goodbye, I thought something from heaven touched me before we parted to leave.”
Lori also felt a connection— “When we said goodbye, I hugged him, as I would hug a dear friend.”
Other people validated their relationship right away.
Alan shares that his friends were especially interested in his dating life. They told him how they liked Lori and that the couple seemed like a good match for one another, which helped validate their relationship.
“It was interesting to see how people saw something in us. During that time, I could see how people were touched by us being together. For me, it was extraordinary,” he remembers.
However, it took a little patience to get all of Lori’s four children on board. When Alan broached the topic of asking Lori to marry him, he saw them stiffen at the idea.
“I needed them to be on board with our marriage, or things likely wouldn’t work. I backed off a bit and gave them time to let it soak in,” he recalls. "Eventually, they were all supportive and happy to help me with the proposal. Lori’s youngest daughter, who is still at home, has always been at peace with my presence.”
On September 19, 2020, Lori's children got to see Alan propose to their mom. He asked for her hand in marriage outside the Eucharistic Adoration Chapel on the grounds of Lori’s parish. Her children were waiting inside the chapel, watching the event unfold unbeknownst to their mother.
“They all came out with a balloon bouquet after I said yes,” she shares. “He had also arranged for a catered family dinner at my house afterwards to celebrate. It was truly a wonderful and joyous time!”
Then came a Sunday morning wedding!
After becoming engaged, they asked their priest whether getting married during the Sunday Mass was an option.
“He excitedly replied that it was, and he suggested World Marriage Day, which would be Sunday, February 14, 2021,” she recalls.
Initially, the couple wasn’t too sure about having a Valentine’s Day wedding, but they decided it felt like a good idea. The couple was intent on keeping the wedding simple. Lori planned to wear a pretty dress that wasn’t a wedding gown.
That plan fell through right before the wedding.
“I ended up in a wedding gown, after all,” she says. “It seems God had a more extravagant plan than we did!”
Alan adds, “It was a beautiful, heavenly wedding that I could not have imagined, with a wonderful brunch reception with family and friends afterwards."
Now five years later...
Even after five years of marriage, people still comment on how Lori and Alan seem like newlyweds.
"Our parish priest made us memorize our vows, and we never want to forget them, so when we go to our weekly Holy Hour in Adoration of Christ in the Eucharist, we slip into the sanctuary (from the side chapel) and profess our vows to each other again, right at the altar where we were married.
Of course, we always conclude it with permission for the groom to kiss the bride!” they say.
