"I was so excited when he would call," she said.
Then 9/11 happened.
The World Trade Center attacks rattled Cathy, and made her want to hunker down at home and with family. "I stopped the conversation," she said.
But Cathy never forgot John, a nuclear technical supervisor who works for PSE&G. In May 2002, she called him.
In addition to the full-time work Cathy still does with brain- and spinal-injury patients at Jefferson Hospital, she spent a dozen years working for the Phillies and Eagles, tending to fans who needed medical assistance. John remembered her when she mentioned the Phillies and Eagles. They began talking again, and he asked her to meet him at an Italian place in Stone Harbor, near where she lived at the time.
With 16 years of Catholic school each, a common heritage and common interests, they had a lot to talk about. Plus, Cathy found John funny and handsome. "I couldn't eat," she said. "I called my sisters and said, 'I think I'm going to marry this man.' "
But their relationship would progress slowly, starting with friendship. For one thing, John's summer was already booked. "I had a Shore house with a bunch of friends," he said.
In August, Cathy took John home to meet her parents, John and Kathleen, and her brothers, nieces and nephews, who were all gathered for a christening. About a month later, John introduced Cathy to his mother, Margaret. John's father, Jim, had died when he was young.
The couple - and their families - grew close.
When John injured his Achilles tendon, Cathy took him to medical appointments. John was Cathy's emotional support as she cared for her ailing father, who died in 2004.
How does forever sound?
