“Are you and Liz going to get maaaaaarried?”
Andrew laughed off his youngest sister’s innocent question at first, but it got him thinking. After all, both he and Liz wanted to start a family young (they are currently both 23), and besides, he thought she was “the sweetest and most beautiful person I know.” Perhaps the question wasn’t such a laughing matter after all.
Andrew had been a non-paying member of Catholic Match for about a year before finding Liz. He had held off paying the membership fee until he found her newly created profile in July. They seemed to have quite a bit in common; both were highly involved in their parish and both came from close-knit, Polish families with whom they were very close. And she was pretty to boot; enough to prompt him to finally pay the full fee.
As for Liz, she’d thought out the qualities she wanted in a boyfriend: he had to love God at least as much as she did, had to value family, and had to have a sense of humor. He also ought to be within fifty miles of her. Andrew was three out of the four, which isn’t bad all things considered.
“On the day I received Andrew’s message, I read and reread it,” she recalls.
“I could tell he had taken his time to compose a thoughtful message, geared toward me and the information I had provided in my profile.”
He had taken his time indeed; he’d spent several days writing and revising that first message. That meant that he’d already committed considerable time and money to this one girl before they had even met.
After reading his message, Liz checked out his profile, and right there was picture of him hoisting his youngest sister over his head, both with huge grins on their faces. “Here is a man who cares about his family,” she thought.
A strong first impression, but unfortunately ill-timed.
As it happens, Liz had already made a date with another man from Catholic Match (A Mr. N. Terloper, I believe was the name). The idea of messaging more than one man at a time didn’t feel right to her, so despite her interest in Andrew, she decided to wait and see how the date went before messaging him back. But, about two weeks later, she decided that the other man wasn’t the one for her and wrote back to Andrew.
They didn’t spend much time talking online, but got right down to business with an in-person date. Andrew at first suggested a coffee shop in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, but Liz discovered they were closed.
Her mother suggested an alternative site, pointing out that it was near to the shrine of Our Lady of LaSalette, and that they might want to walk down there after they finished their coffee. As soon as Liz mentioned the new place, Andrew immediately made the same suggestion!
The first date lasted about six hours.
“I expected to be uncomfortable meeting a stranger,” Liz recalled. “But Andrew’s warm demeanor and engaging sense of humor quickly put me at ease.” Andrew, for his part, couldn’t stop telling her about his family and about how well she would get along with them.
At the Shrine
