CYNTHIA: Joe likes to joke around and his jokes are either so funny your stomach hurts or so corny that all you can do is shake your head in amazement. The first time he messaged me, it was a joke that I not only found corny, but offensive. Needless to say, we started out on the wrong foot.
REGINA: This is pretty funny.
CYNTHIA: I don’t normally hold grudges, so I got over it and we started to talk again. The first thing I did was look at his profile pictures. One of them was a picture of him standing barefoot on his porch and the other was a picture of him with a guinea pig on his shoulder.
I thought, “What a hick” and almost dismissed him.
REGINA: Yes, that would be a Brooklyn reaction.
CYNTHIA: However, a couple of friends of mine had noticed that he seemed interested in me and told me to give him a chance. Boy, am I happy I did. Throughout our courtship, Joe was supportive, loving and open to learning more about traditional Catholicism. Fairly quickly, we realized that it was God’s will for us to marry and that we loved each other, so we got engaged 5 months later - live on Facebook!
REGINA: How do you think being traditional Catholics affected your love affair?
JOE: Learning Catholic tradition was beneficial in dispelling all the wrong ideas I had about marriage. After we started the courtship, we actually had a rocky period because I was still holding on to some of those false notions. Fortunately, with her being a life and relationship coach she worked on my mindset a lot and set me straight so we could do things the right way.
CYNTHIA: During our courtship, we followed a blueprint: “The Four Stages of Courtship”, which are YouTube videos by Fr Chad Ripperger - a traditional priest”. Joe is right about the notions that he had concerning courtship and the things that were important in choosing a spouse. For example, he thought he wanted someone who could be a running and rollerblade partner and I am definitely an “inside girl”.
REGINA: What about your ideas, Cynthia?
CYNTHIA: I was not entirely without pre-conceived notions. Never in my wildest dreams did I envision myself marrying someone who was not a foodie, as I loved to eat out and try new restaurants.
REGINA | 20