Like most people looking for love, Jonathan Mark Filiberto wanted to find someone who loved him for who he was rather than what he did or who he knew. So, he excluded his unusual job from his Bumble profile.
Even after matching with Jessica Rose Rega on Oct. 27, 2020, he decided to conceal his true identity as a psychic medium known as Jonathan Mark. In addition to working with clients, some of whom are celebrities, he collaborates with law enforcement on difficult cases.
Mr. Filiberto and Ms. Rega spent the next week getting to know each other virtually. He was careful to keep his work a secret. On Nov. 7, 2020, they finally met in person for their first date at McKeown’s Pub in Huntington, N.Y.
After they found a table in the enclosed area outside, Mr. Filiberto went inside to get drinks. But that took longer than both expected. “I just thought he wasn’t interested,” Ms. Rega said. “I saw him chatting with all these guys, and the bartender was serving other people.”
When Mr. Filiberto finally returned to the table 30 minutes later, he felt terrible. He quickly made up for it with his charm. “Jon was super talkative and outgoing,” Ms. Rega said. “I can be shy at times when meeting new people, and I felt immediately comfortable with him. We didn’t want the date to end.”
[Click here to binge read this week’s featured couples.]
A week later, they went on a second date at Croxley’s Ale House, a restaurant and bar in Farmingdale, N.Y., and later shared a first kiss.
In May 2021, despite dating exclusively for months, Mr. Filiberto decided to officially ask Ms. Rega to be his girlfriend.
However, Ms. Rega still didn’t really know what Mr. Filiberto did for work. All he had told her was that he consulted several agencies to help solve crimes. “He would get calls from the police or the F.B.I.,” Ms. Rega said. “But the way he was helping them was different than what I thought.”
Ahead of an August 2021 trip to Los Angeles, Mr. Filiberto knew he had to come clean. “She’s going to see things that a regular civilian wouldn’t,” he said. “I sat her down and told her. She said, ‘Prove it.’ I pulled a passed family member that she didn’t tell me about.”
During the encounter, Ms. Rega said, “I was crying hysterically in moments.” She was a believer.
Two years later, they moved into her apartment together in Farmingdale. Later that same year, they bought their first home in Commack, N.Y., where they now live.
Mr. Filiberto, 32, recently launched the “Connect with Jonathan Mark” podcast. He received a bachelor’s degree in communications and sports management from Farmingdale State College and grew up in East Northport, N.Y.
Ms. Rega, 30, is a selling strategy manager at the spirits company Diageo. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from SUNY Oneonta and grew up in Ronkonkoma, N.Y.
When Mr. Filiberto proposed to Ms. Rega on July 22, 2023, at RGNY vineyard in Riverhead, N.Y., it was supposed to be a surprise. But after Ms. Rega’s father slipped and told her Mr. Filiberto had asked for his blessing, and she saw an Amazon order her mother had placed on their shared account, the jig was up.
“He went to the store and got a new outfit,” which is not like him, Ms. Rega said. She suddenly was sure that “it was definitely this weekend.” He proposed in the vineyard’s rose garden. “Even though I knew it was coming, I was still hysterically crying.”
The couple were wed Sept. 20 at the Vineyards at Aquebogue in Aquebogue, N.Y. Alfred Titone, the bride’s stepfather, who was ordained by the Universal Life Church for the event, officiated. In attendance were 162 human guests and one avian.
“After we exchanged vows, a red cardinal flew across the sky, its chirping filling the air,” Ms. Rega said. “Jonathan’s grandma had passed just a week before the wedding, and we all felt it was her.”
The post He Was Open to Love — but Kept His Job a Secret appeared first on New York Times.