It was the last day of 2010, and Jerry and Vivianne were on the first date, lunch at a French restaurant. Jerry, who works restoring antique clocks, handed Vivianne a present wrapped in a paper bag. The gift was an antique clock that was broken and needed complete restoration.
A gift Jerry gave Vivianne on their first date came to symbolize their new life together.
The clock became a symbol of Jerry and Vivianne's subsequent marriage—"using creativity to build something beautiful from the many different components of our lives," she said.
Jerry, 54-years-old and from Virginia, had never been married. Vivianne was 56-years-old, and lived in the same area.
Vivianne's previous marriage had ended 10 years earlier and been later annulled by the Church. A Thanksgiving visit to her son and daughter-in-law had brought up the subject of online dating, and Vivianne decided to try CatholicMatch.
"I had dated a little in 10 years but not that much, and it seemed online dating especially on a Catholic website could be interesting," Vivianne recalled. Like so many other CatholicMatch members, it was the desire for a marriage built on faith that led her to this venue, and even prior to meeting Jerry, she found herself enjoying the message forums and other aspects of online community on CatholicMatch.
Jerry and Vivianne were walking on a beach when he proposed and she said yes.
Jerry and Vivianne connected quickly and a few weeks later were having lunch at that French restaurant. Vivianne quickly knew she had met someone special. "He impressed me with his spiritual strength, kindness to me and also to everyone he meets. I admire his care for his family and positive outlook on life," she said.
Vivianne was further won over by Jerry's commitment to her family, from the respect he showed to her father, to the warm relationship he forged with her children, and to the numerous visits he paid to Vivianne's mother in the nursing room before she passed away recently.
After almost two years of getting to know each other, Jerry and Vivianne were taking a walk on a beach that she had often visited while growing up. As she looked out over the Atlantic Ocean, he set a little wooden box on the sand and said "Look what I found." Inside was grandmother's 80-year-old engagement ring, and it was there he proposed marriage and she accepted.
One year after the engagement, this past October, Jerry and Vivianne were married. Like the clocks that he repairs, they have been restored through their faith in God and love for each other.
The respect with which Jerry treated Vivianne's entire family impressed her enormously.
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