“No way, I am not moving,” was the first thought 49-year-old Lisa had as she started to sort through some of the men who had contacted her shortly after joining CatholicMatch. She had a family business and her roots in Alabama and though she was interested in meeting someone, long-distance wasn’t on the agenda. At least that was the original idea
But Ted was different, and Lisa liked enough of what she saw that she continued to correspond with the man from Texas. The correspondence went well enough that they exchanged phone numbers, and a month later they were on their way to meeting in New Orleans.
The couple was well-prepared when they met. They talked every night on the phone in the month leading up to his arrival. Lisa had prepared a systematic way of identifying romantic prospects. “I had a relationship questionnaire printout,” she recalled. “And we went over everything we wanted in a partner before we met in person.”
Any romantic relationship brings together a fusion of the head and the heart. The questionnaire and the time spent on the phone made Ted and Lisa comfortable intellectually, but the response of the heart often can’t be made until that first contact.
When they met in New Orleans it didn’t take long to find out. “When we met, we knew the minute we hugged each other,” Lisa told CatholicMatch. Four months later Ted proposed, and three months after the proposal they were married.
The wedding in August was the conclusion of a journey Lisa never anticipated. The journey had its roots one night with her 21-year-old son, as they watched television and an ad for a dating site appeared. “Maybe you could find a good man on that site,” her son jokingly said to here.
The following morning there was an e-mail in her inbox from CatholicMatch—to this day Lisa isn’t sure how it found its way to her. She signed up and then had to briefly overcome buyer’s remorse before continuing on to use the site, and then let go of her own doubts about the long-distance idea.
Lisa pulled out all the stops with her marriage to Ted. “We were married August 18, which is my parent's anniversary,” she said. “They were married 50 years so I know that date is good luck.”
Between good luck, God’s grace and the preparation both she and Ted put in, the couple is well-poised for a lifetime of happiness. It won’t come without some transitional difficulties. Lisa is still living in Alabama, where she is tying up loose business ends that will clear her path to join her husband in Texas.
For his part, Ted has been able to use the time of his transition to remodel his home and create more space for his new bride, something he does in between frequent business travels.
“We felt like we were best friends from the beginning,” Lisa said in looking back at her unexpected journey. “I know that God planned all this, and I am so blessed.”
