[From Michael's point of view] [From Suzanne's point of view]

As Suzanne and I started hanging out more and talking about life and what we were up to, I started to really love being around her more and more!!  I knew that we were approaching Valentine's Day and I had never really done anything too special on Valentine's Day, so earlier in the week, I decided to and asked her out on a date for Feb. 14.  She was thrilled and said that noone had ever done anything for her on Valentine's Day before.  I thought that it was pretty cool that our first real Valentine's Day would be together!  So our first "date" was that night... I brought flowers to her door when I picked her up, then took her to Arcelia's, a mexican restaurant near Soulard in St. Louis.  Afterward, we went to a different coffee shop, The Grind in the Central West End, where we ran into Joe Moscus, Chris Chet, and Officer Adam, three guys with whom I had worked in radio.  This gave Suzanne a chance to meet up with some of my radio friends, discover that that part of my life really had happened, and hear some funny stories of my days at the stations.  Afterward, I dropped her off and we called it a night.  It had been a wonderful night!!!  At this point, I was really more interested than I had ever imagined I would be in continuing to build a relationship with Suzanne.

Since then, we've been together almost every day and have done a wide range of things on our own and with our families.  I've gotten to know her very well and look forward to growing closer to her through the years.  She is the most beautiful girl I've ever imagined knowing... she is sweet and peaceful and loving and close to God and encourages others to be the same.  Suzanne is amazing!!

[From Michael's point of view] [From Suzanne's point of view]

Our Wednesday evenings at Sacred Grounds progressed to Saturday evenings as well.  In January, Sunday evenings were added to my time with Michael as he introduced me to one of the most incredibly liturgies I had ever experienced at SLU College Church.  I loved every minute of the time that I spent with Michael, and I looked forward to the evenings we would spend together.  My mom and some of my friends kept joking that we couldn't possibly just be going out for coffee.  I tried to explain to them that Michael was going to be a priest, and we were friends.

On Wednesday, February 12th, on the way to Sacred Grounds, he asked me if I had any plans for Valentine's Day.  I told him that I didn't have any plans, and that I had really never done anything special for Valentine's Day in the past.  He said that he we should get together and do something. This suggestion marked the beginning a very confusing couple of days as I tried to figure out if he had asked me out on a date (secretly hoping that it would be a date) or just as friends.

He arrived that evening with a bouquet of daisies (my favorite flower), and I was finally sure that it was a date.  He took me out to dinner for Mexican food (my favorite food) at Arcelia's in Soulard.  Not breaking tradition, he took me out for coffee at The Grind in the Central West end.  We ran into a couple of Michael's friends from his radio days.  It was neat to be able to put some faces with names that had appeared in stories in previous weeks.  I also enjoyed just watching Michael interact with his friends and catch up on old times.  Then, he took me home, walked me to the door, and remained a perfect gentleman for a first date.  It was the best first date experience I had ever had, not to mention Valentine's Day, and I couldn't wait until our next date.  I went to bed that night wondering if finding "Mr. Right" could really be this easy.

Our three nights a week that we spent together as friends, quickly grew to every night of the week as our relationship progressed.  Since February, we have been practically inseparable.  We have spent that last several months learning even more about each other, meeting each other's friends, and spending even more time getting to know each other's families.

I have undoubtedly found in Michael my "Mr. Right."  He is truly a disciple of Christ and an example to others by living Christ's word in his daily life.  He is incredibly handsome, intelligent, caring, funny, romantic…He is my soul mate, my best friend and the love of my life.  When I look at Michael, I see a truly amazing person, and I am grateful that God led us to each other.  I can't imagine going through the rest of my life without him by my side, and I thank God every day for crossing our paths one evening in October 2002.

[From Michael's point of view] [From Suzanne's point of view]