Praise God for His faithfulness!

Catherine and Dan both met on CatholicMatch in December 2019. Dan was leading medical and dental mission trips at a Catholic-founded non-profit in Ann Arbor, MI and Catherine was living in Memphis, TN as a general dentist working in an urban area of the city. They had both been looking for someone who also felt a call to live out their faith and a life of service in a very real way. In January 2020, Dan asked if he could drive (12 hours) down to Memphis and take Catherine on a date. She was about to be in Kenya for a 1-month dental mission trip, so they planned it for late February. During Catherine's time in Kenya, they were intentional about sending long emails back and forth, and even having a few video chats (with terrible wifi and odd hours). Dan came to Memphis and planned trips to the Memphis Pyramid, out for walks, visiting friends, a trivia night, and cooking together. At the end of the weekend, Dan asked if they could officially date. After a week of no contact, some prayer and discernment, and a 4 hour phone call while Dan was leading his own mission trip in Guatemala, they determined God was calling them to move forward in a dating relationship. The first 2.5 months of dating were all remote due to the pandemic, and became an exercise in communication and discernment. A LOT of video chats, phone calls, and letters allowed them to get to know each other intentionally and to fall in love. The rest of 2020 included various weekend trips to Ann Arbor, Memphis, Louisville, Cincinnati, Traverse City, Tampa, Proctorville, and Raleigh to see one another’s friends and family. Date nights are nearly all remote: watching The Chosen, writing silly songs together, cooking together, playing Codenames online. The whole time, God drew them closer to Himself and to each other. Even with very different hobbies and habits, they share the same values, passions, dreams and faith. Dating long distance has not been easy, but they are so thankful for it!

By December 2020, Dan knew that Catherine was the woman he wanted to marry and also how he wanted to propose. The plan gradually began to take shape in January and February of 2021. Meanwhile, Catherine was making subtle hints and blunt statements about wanting to get engaged. Dan knew that if Catherine found out that he was thinking of proposing soon, she would be expecting it anytime they were together. So he would respond with, "Let's not rush anything" and "All in God's timing", even as he was buying a ring and getting the blessing from Catherine's parents. Finally, after spending the entire season of Lent apart, Catherine and Dan were in Michigan and Dan convinced her to wake up at 4 AM on Good Friday morning to spend a day on a "retreat/pilgrimage". After driving 2.5 hours to Tawas Point State Park, they hiked 1.5 miles on the beach as the sun rose over Lake Huron. Another 2 hours of driving brought them to Ocqueoc Falls. The time in the car was spent in prayer, reading the Passion narratives from the 4 gospels, and listening to Good Friday reflections from Venerable Fulton Sheen. After hiking 6 miles at Ocqueoc Falls, they drove 1 hour to Cross in the Woods Shrine in Indian River. There they attended the Good Friday service and then did some prayers outside. At the Shrine of the Holy Family (pictured above) Dan asked for the intercession of St. Joseph to help him be the man he is called to be, the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary to help Catherine be the woman she is called to be, and then dropped on one knee to ask Catherine to marry him. Needless to say, she was very surprised and said yes! Catherine and Dan are so excited for marriage and pray that Christ's sacrifice on Good Friday will always be a sign of how they ought to love and lay down their lives for each other.