We first met online through a Catholic online dating app with Mary asking me what my favorite restaurant was in the town that I lived. Honestly, she was the first person that talked to me on that app. I didn't want to talk to anyone else after that. We chatted for a few days and eventually I got up the courage to ask her out for coffee. We met for the first time at a coffee shop on the other side of the tracks (no really, it was by the train tracks). We talked until the place closed, sipped coffee, and found out a few very interesting details about each other...

As we were talking on that first date, I asked her what Mass she attended since we were both faithful Catholics. She told me her and her sister were a little strange, and attended a 7:30 am Mass on Sundays. Me too. She mentioned that she went to St. Helen nearby. Me too. Turns out, we had been sitting at the same Mass, in different areas the whole time. But wait, there's more. We had grown up around the same people, going to that same church as kids, with our parents even remembering each other. Our relationship continued to grow as I was welcomed into her home parish, St. John the Baptist in Alvin, and I even joined her dad in a men's group...attended by a cousin of mine. See? Weird.

First, it was no surprise. I cannot keep anything from her. She knew I was going to propose for the longest time, even going so far to give me her ring to get the size right. I am not slick by any means. After going with my mom and hers to pick up the ring, I carried it around with me for two weeks. It was on her Christmas break that I was working from her house, and we decided to do a private Christmas gift exchange before the chaos of the holidays. It was there that I dropped down to one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with me. She made me the happiest man in the world when she gave her answer.