Story by RORY MOORE Photos by RYAN SCHUCKMAN
Tiger Media Network
The Catholic Tigers hosted a marriage panel inside the Comeau Catholic Campus Center on Wednesday. The panelists consisted of three married couples, Jerry and Renee Michaud, Kane and Kathryn Romp, and Derek and Jess Buessing, who offered advice on maintaining a healthy marriage.
The Buessings were the youngest among the panelists, having married in November.
“We met two and a half years ago,” Derek Buessing said. “She was a freshman, and I was a junior. I thought that either I’m going to become a priest or find my wife, and I thought I was going to be the priest. Then I met this girl who loved being competitive at cards like me, so that drew me into Jess. Then we decided to go on our date.”
Fr. Andy Hammeke introduces the marriage panel before the event begins. 
An FHSU student listens attentively to the marriage panel speak. 
A group of FHSU students listen as the marriage panel speaks. 
Kane Romp (left) and his wife Kathryn (right) speak about their experience in marriage. The couple represented a middle-aged perspective on the panel. 
Renee Michaud (right) listens as her husband Jerry (left) speaks about their marriage to FHSU students. The couple provided insights into a long-lasting marriage. 
Three married couples take questions from FHSU students. The panel provided perspectives from a newlywed couple, middle-aged couple, and older couple. 
Kathryn Romp (second from left) looks to her husband Kane (far left) while answering a question. “It’s just constantly a team effort,” Kathryn said. “Just turning to each other and helping each other take care of the needs of your children, the household, or yourself.” 
Jess Herrman Buessing (right) laughs as her husband Derek (left) answers a question. The couple provided a newlywed perspective to the panel. 
The marriage panel sits in front of a crowd of FHSU students. 
Jerry (left) and Renee (right) Michaud laugh while answering a question. 
Jess Herrman Buessing (right) laughs while answering a question as her husband Derek (left) looks on. 
Kane (left) and Kathryn (right) Romp react to a question before answering.
The Romps have been married for nine years and have six children.
“I happened to go pour concrete at this house in Kansas City, unknowing I was going to meet my wife there,” Kane Romp said. “Next thing you know, we ran into each other. It kicked off a little more from there; we started communicating more and more, and we ended up dating.”
The Michauds have been married for 32 years and have two adult children.
“Each of us was on the path of discernment,” Jerry Michaud said. “Is this some consecrated life? Is it priesthood, brotherhood, or sisterhood? We were open to all of that. Whatever path you’re on, make sure it’s aligned with what God wants. That’s what our plan was.”
Renee Michaud recalled the moment Jerry proposed to her.
“I remember heading down the interstate,” she said. “Jerry was talking, and I said to him, ‘If you’re saying what I think you’re saying, pull this car over right now!’ That was our engagement.”
Her key to a healthy marriage was maintaining her faith with Jerry.
“Christ has been in our life ever since before we met one another,” Renee Michaud said. “Coming into marriage, it was like, ‘Okay, this is my way of praying and my style of living my faith.’ But you have a way of praying, so how do we do this together as a married couple? What we found was to utilize the resources and words among us. So, every morning, we pull out the scripture readings of the day, pray those readings, and then have a prayer intention list.”
She mentioned that staying committed to their faith has benefited her and Jerry.
“Even when Jerry travels, we’ll call each other at 5 o’clock in the morning and start our day with prayer,” Renee Michaud said. “That’s commitment. He might be dragging me through prayer, and I may be pulling him through prayer, but we’re committed.”
Jerry Michaud advised that the most critical aspect of married life is staying together amid changing standards.
“The world’s got lots of brokenness,” he said. “Even when we got married, divorce rates were pretty high, and I think that’s what made us more emboldened in making sure the commitment we made [was kept]. I said till death do us part, and that doesn’t mean it’s always easy. It seems like today it’s pretty much choose to leave if you want, and I find that difficult because there’s so much more to a relationship and life when you stick to it.”
Kathryn Romp echoed many of Jerry’s sentiments.
“I think about the sacrament of marriage being you, your spouse and God,” she said. “It’s a vow you take for life. You still have your job and personal things you need to take care of, but you share that with them.”
Jess Buessing remarked that the hardest thing she has sacrificed since marrying Derek is a good night’s sleep.
“We’ve only been married for three months, so we’re still getting used to having another person in the same bed as you,” she said. “It interrupts your sleep more but I’m sure as our marriage goes on, we’ll get more used to it.”
Some advice that Kane Romp offered was to grow as a person when adjusting to married life.
“Dying to self is one of the biggest things you can do,” he said. “Going from a single guy to being married, now it’s my job to provide for my wife, to having kids, and now going to be having seven kids. There are days I don’t want to go to work and make these phone calls, but I’ve got to do it to provide for my family. That’s the biggest shoes I have to fill: giving up my selfish time of being able to jump on my PlayStation or sit on my phone.”
Jerry Michaud shared that becoming a parent provides further growth.
“My children came along, and suddenly, your priorities change and evolve,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that’s a negative thing. It means you have interests in other people and their lives. It’s certainly an evolution, and it’s what we’re called to.”
For Renee Michaud, those interests manifest in being the best spouse.
“As married people, our vocational call is to help our mate get to heaven,” she said. “That is our first and foremost goal, and then to raise our families. So, be passionate about that, and the dying to self falls right in line with it. It’s not always easy, but the grace that comes in the sacrament always sees you through.”