Sue was not a fan of online dating. The 53-year-old widow from the Twin Cities area had tried it and found the whole idea wanting. But she hadn’t tried CatholicMatch, and for her that made all the difference.
“…Catholic Match was a tool enabling me to validate…wanting to have someone to share my faith and would not have to continue practicing my prayer life alone,” she said. And once she was on CatholicMatch, she found it important interact with a large number of members. Rob, the man she was about to meet, felt the same way. “We found that we were confirming our morals and values and knew that who we have become was going to be what we brought to the relationship.”
Rob was also 53 years old and his marriage was annulled shortly before he met Sue online. They both believed that the wisdom they’d each acquired from their experiences had served to deepen their faith, make their goals healthier and give a better understanding of God’s will in their lives.
Sue was willing to relocate for the right person and when Rob found her online, that was an important piece of information. He lived in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and it was a six-hour drive across Wisconsin to get to her hometown. They spent eight months making that drive, spending countless hours on the phone and writing e-mails—putting all the work necessary so they could gain the best possible understanding of their new mate.
The relationship wasn’t without its tense moments. Sue has a little trouble breathing and she recalled being extremely tense that Rob would notice and find it a turnoff. “(It) was one of those ‘heart pounding, hope he doesn't notice I can't breathe real well’ moments!,” She recalled. And that wasn’t all… “Oh my, what do I wear and if he is driving to Minnesota, what should we do on this first date?” You name it, Sue was worried about it, as she anticipated his arrival.
Her worries were unfounded. Soon he was at the door and she was looking at someone even more handsome in person than he was online. As they continued to get to know each other, growing in faith and in love, they found their strengths and weaknesses were compatible with each other and that this was indeed what they both wanted. They were married this past New Year’s Eve.
In different ways, Rob and Sue both went through pain to get to this point in their lives and those trials have given them a deeper understanding of what they both want. Sue acknowledges all the questions she wrestled with in seeking God’s will—“are we to be alone or is there a special someone…and if there is someone, how does one find them.”
CatholicMatch was the tool that worked for Sue and Rob. “Pray, listen and it really works,” she enthusiastically advises others following the same path.
