Today marks 10 months since the night of our engagement! I am so amazed at how very clearly I can remember and “see” the night play out in my mind. So I thought today would be a good day to tell about the most magical night of my life.
Our first date was December 28th, 2013. We hadn’t planned on walking around the whole city and chatting for four hours after getting something hot at a coffee shop, but that’s what happened. It was the first time we had ever spent time with the other- basically a blind date- but it was enough for me to walk away thinking This guy is really special. I hope I get to know him more! That was my first inkling that something might just happen between us. The more dates we had, the more I cherished his friendship, the more I slowly fell in love with this humorous, brilliant, hard-working man whose ideas and dreams inspired me to dream bigger myself.
We had known since May that we loved each other, and in July we shared our feelings of wanting to be in the others’ life long term- as in marriage. He even mentioned wanting to save up to “make a big purchase in December”; cuing me in on his expected timeline and hinting at a proposal. But that fall brought on a horrible bout of sickness for me as well as my love’s nearly 6 hour away move, making us question whether or not that future together would work out and when the timetable for that would actually be.
I had been keeping track of each of our dates since our first one, trying to record all the memories of our activities, locations, and feelings. That’s how I knew that December 28th, 2014 was exactly one year since our first date AND it was our 100th date. I pretty much knew he was going to propose that day- I mean, how could he pass up that kind of opportunity 🙂 ?- but I had no idea how, where, or when he would. We had decided to re-create our first date; stopping at a coffee shop and briskly walking the downtown area (it was sooooo much colder than it was on our first date!). We also wanted to catch the sunset together, as that had become something important throughout our relationship.
We chatted in the coffee shop for a while, talking about our future together in detail. He even straight up asked, “If I proposed to you today, when do you think you would want to have the wedding?” That gave me some reassurance that today was our big day ;). As it got closer to sunset, we bundled up (though I refused to wear gloves, just so my fingers would be ready to accept a ring… which he caught on to 😉 ), leaving the warmth of the coffee shop and braving the cold December wind. We walked across the pedestrian bridge that had become a stop on so many of our dates and went to the top of a nearby parking garage to watch the sunset while getting some protection against the wind.
At this point, my heart was racing, as were my thoughts. When is he going to ask? Should I act somewhat surprised? What is he going to say? Where is it going to be? He better ask me today or I will be so disappointed. What if he doesn’t ask, so that I actually am surprised? How will I feel if he does that? He better just ask be tonight. But when?? I was able to stop the tirade of questions in my head enough to enjoy the moment with the love of my life, snap the last selfies of us “just dating” together, and brace myself for both the chill of going back outside and the rush of next few moments. We slowly walked back to the edge of the bridge. He stopped and hugged me.
This is it!!!! This is the moment!!! My heart was fluttering; as he held me close I could feel his heart racing. He pulled me back and held my hands. It seemed like a long few quiet moments before he said something about his life in our town started on this side of the bridge in college, crossing to the other side was where he met me, and our relationship has created special places on both sides (my body was surging with adrenaline as he was talking- thinking that the proposal would follow- so I am sorry, my love, but I don’t recall the exact words!). He then asked if I would walk with him to the other side. I gave him a kiss and a “yes” and we headed across.
We stopped a few more times to hug or catch the beauty of the sky as we crossed. A few times I thought he was waiting for others to walk by us so he could ask in private, but I was wrong. At this point, unfortunately, I was slightly disappointed. I thought the bridge was the perfect symbolic stop, the sunset behind us the perfect backdrop, the moment just right for him to propose. But I figured he had a better surprise in store so I held him tight and continued to walk.
We got to the other side of the bridge and he stopped. I looked up and saw my dad standing a few yards away, with my mom and sister trying to motion him to hunch down. A quick glance to my left showed that his family was hunched down too, waiting for us to get to that spot at the top of the stairs. I started sobbing.
{I honestly did not think I would cry; I expected him to propose on our date, after all! But knowing that he had planned it so that those most important in our lives would be present to witness and record it made my heart melt. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect way to start the beginning of our lives together as we knew it.}
I hugged him tight and he hugged me. We were both emotional. It seemed like we spent an eternity in each others arms, holding on for all we were worth. Eventually, he ever so sweetly pushed me back to get down on one knee. His words were sweet and filled with love. I said yes to spending the rest of my life with the man I had completely fallen in love with. He pulled out the most gorgeous ring (he picked it out himself and completely surprised me- it suits me perfectly!) and placed it on my hand. We embraced, we kissed, and we were greeted with happy tears, hugs, and congratulations by all of our family. It felt unreal.
The next big surprise was in store. My love had let my family in on the secret and my mom and sister pulled off a marvelous engagement party with both our families present immediately following our moment on the bridge. It was wonderful for both sides to get to meet each other, uniting and celebrating over the fact that we were going to become one. We told them of our earlier conversation at the coffee shop (the one about when I would want the wedding), and gave our May 2015 date to them. Was it rushing? Perhaps. But we both so badly wanted to be together and not only seeing each other every/every other weekend. And looking back, the timing was perfect.
It was a marvelous night. I never tried to imagine what our engagement would be like, as I wanted to be fully taken in the moment. I felt as if I were in a fairy tale. What a tremendous blessing to remember this day and realize that was just the start of our happily ever after!
I would love to read your story; feel free to link it in the comments below! Did you feel it was magical? Was it expected or a surprise? Thanks for reading!
newlyweddedwurl 