Valentine's Day 2023: Celebrating Saint Viator Sweethearts

Did you know there are currently 280+ living Saint Viator and Sacred Heart of Mary alumni couples? In honor of Valentine's Day today, we are spotlighting a handful of sweethearts and their love stories.

Jonathan ‘04 and Olivia Metzinger '04 Spector 

Jonathan claims I used to visit the Jazz practices in the mornings before school so I could see him, but many years have passed and I can’t confirm this!  We had some classes together, both played in the band and were active in sports. We had the same group of friends, who we are still close with today, and just always gravitated towards one another. 

We’ll be celebrating our ten year anniversary this coming June. Mr. Jim Bristol ‘73 said the blessing before dinner, and our siblings who went to SV, (Brigitta Del Vecchio ‘06, Jonathan Metzinger ‘10 & Christopher Spector ‘00), stood beside us as we exchanged vows. 

 

After graduation, Jonathan continued playing soccer in England and I went to school at SLU. We didn’t date during that time, but continued to stay in touch and would see one another when Jonathan came back into town. After I graduated from SLU in ‘08, we spent a lot of time together that summer, and six days after he left to go back to England, he flew me out. Within days I was dating my High School boyfriend again and looking at grad schools in London. 

 

We spent eight years living in England, and had our first son, Monroe in 2015 In Birmingham, UK. In 2017, Jonathan got the opportunity to play in the MLS, so we moved to Orlando, FL and had our second son, Arden, later that year. Before Jonathan retired from professional soccer, our family moved back to the UK and had an amazing few months supporting him playing for Hibernian FC in Edinburgh.

 

Since September 2019, we’ve been living in Atlanta, GA where Jonathan works for Atlanta United and I am a CLC (Certified Lactation Counselor). Our weekends are full of kids sporting events, hiking with our dog Fritz, and spending time with friends. Our family loves to travel together, and our most recent trip was to Germany to visit the Christmas markets. 

 

In January, we got the opportunity to take our boys back to Chicagoland, and spent a weekend with family and friends celebrating Jonathan’s induction into the SV Athletics Hall of Fame. Seeing our boys run the hallways where we met was both surreal and nostalgic for us both!

We met at a home football game freshman year (in 2009) through mutual friends. We had about 40+ alumni attend our wedding and Father Dan Hall was the presider.  We dated since junior year of high school for 10+ years, attended different colleges, and just got married last year in September 2022! We spent two weeks exploring and relaxing in Hawaii on our honeymoon. We live and work downtown Chicago and love to try new restaurants, travel, attend concerts, sporting events and spend time with friends and family.

Want to read more alumni love stories?  Check out last year's featured couples.