Sandy was cautious when she first met Dan online at CatholicMatch. The 49-year-old nurse from Connecticut had been single for a long time after the annulment of her first marriage and after dealing her fair share of meeting the wrong people, she was aware that were worse things than being single.
It was Dan, a 46-year-old autobody mechanic from the same area who changed all that.
Dan & Sandy each came to CatholicMatch through their respective parishes, albeit in different ways. Dan, like many others, saw the ad in the back of the parish bulletin.
Sandy was surprised to hear CatholicMatch mentioned in the priest’s homily one Sunday. “I thought, hmmm…I should try this since he advocated it,” she said.
The down-to-earth values Sandy conveyed in her profile were taken to heart by Dan when he first read it and that led to the initial contact. “I felt like he actually took me serious,” Sandy told CatholicMatch. “I don’t often feel that men online really value what you say in your profile…I spoke with my heart, but was brief.”
After their first date a month after making the online connection in early 2010, Dan was convinced Sandy was the real deal. And though she stayed cautious, she was having the same feelings. “I liked how Dan was more respectful than any man I ever knew before him, aside from my dad or relatives,” she recalled. “And we have seemed to have a lot of common interests and goals.”
Everything progressed from that strong foundation and soon Sandy found herself in love with a man “who cared about my happiness…I always wanted to be loved this way and I have that kind of love to give in return.”
Both Dan & Sandy have children, she a 26-year-old son and he two teenage daughters. As the talk of marriage escalated and conversations about rings were held, Dan made sure to check with the kids and see if they were all on board. Indeed they were.
“He led me to believe the proposal would take place in spring (of 2012),” Sandy said. So as Christmas approached, she had no expectations. But instead, as their families shared the holiday together, Dan proposed. Sandy accepted with “happy tears and lots of joy.”
“Things just progressed to learning how to be more open about communicating and how to meet each others’ needs,” Sandy said looking back on everything. “It took me a long time to believe that he was sincere. I am just so grateful that he held in there for me to finally see that he really is that way.”
Dan & Sandy will be married in the Church on September 8. “I believe Christ brought us together and is keeping us together,” Sandy told CatholicMatch.
