Matchmaker

“Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match…. Peggy hummed the little tune as she wrote down the names of two people she knew from church on her yellow pad. She loved being able to put two people together that didn’t seem like they would even like each other. Peggy thought of Katy and her husband James. She managed to get those two together and it wasn’t easy. James was very stubborn when it came to be willing to be matched. It was, actually, his son Jeremy that helped to get Katy and James together. 

This all began at a very large Baptist church in Houston, Texas. There were two single groups. One was for the people that had never been married and the other group were for another group who had been married before and had gotten a divorce for whatever reason. 

James had dark hair and hazel eyes and was working as a security officer at the time. He hadn’t been divorced for very long, but it was a bad breakup. He was able to see his son, every other weekend as long as he wasn’t working.

Peggy would see James at church and she remembers hearing him say, “The only way I will ever get married again, is to see a burning bush on I-10 at high noon.”

Whenever the singles groups would go out to eat after the service, Peggy made sure that James sat by Katy. James seemed to never remember what Katy’s name was when he sat by her.

One night in May of 1989, the Singles groups had an event together. It was the ending of the hit series, “Mash” starring Alan Alda. Everyone was playing games in the big gym. A basketball game was going on in one corner, the volleyball net was set up and a game was going on there. 

Katy with her blondish-brown hair that was styled much the way Farrah Fawcett but shorter also had hazel-green eyes.

Katy looked around and didn’t see anyone she knew. She did see a little boy with blonde hair and blue eyes sitting on the sidelines. She went over to him and started talking to him. They carried on a conversation for quite some time. About thirty minutes into talking to Jeremy, his father came up to see who he was talking to. Katy introduced herself. They made their introductions and then James went back to playing volleyball.

Katy stayed with Jeremy most of the night hanging out with him. She even sat with James and Jeremy and ate dinner with them.

Somewhere along the way Katy and James started seeing each other. First, it was just at church and going out to eat with the singles group and then James would come over and watch Sci-Fiction movies at Katy’s apartment. Sometimes, he would bring Jeremy with him. There were times where Jeremy would fall asleep on the book that he brought with him. 

Then a couple of months went by and after a retreat that the singles had, James decided to break it off with Katy. He told her, “I just want to be friends.”

Katy wiped a tear from one of her eyes. She was determined not to let James see her upset. They said their goodbyes at church one night after the service. 

Katy was trying to focus on her relationship with God. One day she was reading a passage and the scripture basically said, "Wait on the Lord and good things will come."

So Katy focused on work at Foley’s and reading her bible. She hadn’t heard from James in about a month. Then her phone rang and a little kid’s voice said, “Miss Katy?”

It was Jeremy calling Katy. “I miss you. Can you come with me and my dad to go to Galveston?”

How was Katy to compete with a three-year-old asking to see her? So, of course, she said yes.

James came and picked Katy up. Jeremy sat in the middle between Katy and James with his seat belt on. They got to the Ferry and parked the car. Looked at the water while the Ferry crossed the water to go to Galveston.

Katy and Jeremy sang songs and read books all the way to the ferry and during the ferry ride. By the time they got off the ferry and into Galveston, Jeremy was fast to sleep. 

This forced James and Katy to talk to each other. They decided that day on October 29th, 1989 that they would try again when it came to their relationship. By December the 19th of 1989 they were engaged. 

Peggy thought about it. I wonder if I actually had anything to do with matching them or not? Well, at least I know they are still together after 29 years and four children later.

Peggy wrote down another name and went to work again thinking of how she was going to get the new couple together.