Francesca Gallo & Peter Hajjar

Hi David, thank you so much for reaching out – this is such a special time in our lives and this class made it even more meaningful. I have printed the pre-marriage course workbooks for both Peter (my fiancé) and I and we are completing them as we speak, some of the questions are rather funny! I found the “Marriage in the Catholic Church” PDF to be so important for us – to read out loud to each other that Marriage is a covenant, a contract, a community, a partnership and most importantly, a family really hit home for us.

The “Don’t Do it” section from the “Making it Work” PDF was so crucial to us as well.. the do’s and don’ts of a marriage. Although no one is perfect and we know that we will make mistakes along this journey, we also know that we are in it together and this class has proven that with the help of our church and community we will continue to grow together.

It is scary to learn of all the marriages that fail according to John Gottman – so sad. We are really excited about spending some time this weekend watching the “extras” you have included in this program – can’t wait! We learned in your “seven steps to a successful marriage” that everyone gets married for different reasons, just make sure your reasons are aligned. Don’t get married to fix something.. it won’t do the trick. We learned to remember and reflect on the good times and don’t be afraid to laugh! We learned the importance of discussing our relationship regularly; don’t whine, don’t judge, don’t nag.. try to be open minded and understanding, we are a team.

Overall we learned so much and are so excited to get married in the catholic church and one day, when the time is right, start a family in the church where I was raised. Thank you again for this class, I hope you know how much this means to us. Our journey of learning has just begun!