Our Love Story

5 years ago I could never have imagined myself where I am today. I had just gotten out of my first long term relationship in an emotionaly and spiritualy harrowing breakup.  I was attending a conservative, very Lutheran church.  I was focusing on my heavy class load and learning to deal with upperclassman life.  I had barely heard of Johnfrancis Twomey, a friend's brother who, according to his younger sibling, spent most of his spare time playing online video games.

I have learned, however, that God has a sense of humor.

You see, I had started going to the daily rosary with my Catholic friends.  They liked to tease me and say, "So, Megan, when are you going to become Catholic?" And, because I couldn't answer the question without some serious soul searching I didn't feel prepared to do, I would joke, "When God sends me a Catholic husband."
(I know at least one friend took it as a challenge and started saying rosaries for that Catholic husband to show up.  I know I said a few myself.  I felt so unready for a relationship or a conversion, and it seemed like waiting for the answer to that request would postpone both indefinitely. )

Just a few months later, though, I came face to face with the answer to my prayers.  I just had no idea at the time.

I was at two friends' junior voice recital, and I was completely unprepared to meet the love my life.  (I was, in fact, dressed in my crazy idea of work clothes and smelling like a panini after rushing over from my job at the deli.)  Both friends had family members at the recital, and among them was one older brother with the memorable name of  Johnfrancis.

Let me just say that it wasn't love at first sight. Even though he was handsome and could sing beautifully, I considered him outside the range of possiblity.  Why would he look twice at his little brother's silly college friend?

I did think he might need a friend.  Especially when he didn't know anyone at the party after the recital.  So, when his brother and my roommate started having a whispering session, and he felt left out, I asked his brother for his phone number. From across the room, I sent him a text. It said, "SECRETS." After he expressed much consternation about who was texting him, I revealed the joke and quipped, "well, now you have my number.".
That number was going to be showing up a lot more than he thought.  I, egged on by his brother's incredibly biased description of his lonely existence, started my crusade to make Johnfrancis my texting buddy.

The crazy thing about my scheme was that it actually worked. And after a while, receiving texts became a part of my day I looked forward to.  When he started calling and coming to visit, I started to think he didn't just see me as a crazy kid. Maybe it wasn't just a fun inside joke to have a texting buddy.  Maybe I'd stumbled into something much better. 

After waiting forever to see if he'd ask me out,  I tricked him into our first "not date," hanging out at Coney island. After talking for hours, he asked me to be his date to a cousin's wedding. I came back to school giddy, only to find that my friends had known for weeks! Through his brother, of course. It turns out it took a lot of courage for him to overcome the fear that being "texting buddies" was the kiss of death to any romantic hopes.

So for the next eight months we had a crazy, whirlwind long-distance romance.  Despite the two hour drives and a hectic senior year, it was an amazing time.  I discovered how much we had in common, how well we complemented each other, and how I hated to be without him. He was sweet, gentlemanly, hilarious, talented, brilliant, easy to talk to, happy to do things with me, and not to mention handsome. He was a Catholic, of course.

It was the totally unexpected answer to my prayers.  Johnfrancis was totally patient with me as I wrestled through my questions about the Catholic faith, and never pressured me as I went through my conversion process.  It's a long story for another time, but when I finally came home to the Church he was with me all the way, rediscovering his love for his faith.

We knew we were amazingly blessed, because God had made everything clear by giving us each other. Drawing us together had drawn us closer to Him. Loving each other, not just in a romantic lovey dovey way, but in a helping-each-other get to heaven way, was our vocation.

8 months after we started dating we were engaged. 8 months after our engagement we were married.  It's been 3 years since I pledged Johnfrancis my troth in the sacrament of marriage.  We have needed those sacramental graces many times as we learned to live with each other, learned to be parents, and learned what it really means to choose to love someone every day.  The One who gave us to each other has continued to lavish us with undeserved graces as we try daily to offer ourselves back to Him.

Today is: (the day after) The Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels
Finn is: loving this Indian Summer weather
Gigi: pulled herself up to stand for the first time today
Mama is reading: Catherine of Siena by Sigrid Undset