My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Winding down to go to sleep, 2:07 AM
Weather = Very warm for January
The holidays were a little different this year. My Grandparents went to BC to spend time with my Uncle and his family so things were a little quiet. There was no World of Warcraft questing on New Years, but that's alright. I got to go home and eat lots of good food, spend time with a mother, father, sister, and two brothers who love me. There was lots of games, laughter, and fun. I even got a bunch of pre-course reading done. Oh yeah, I brought my fiancé with me too.
That's right, we're engaged! This was the best part of the holidays! Here's the story of how it went.
I had decided that I wanted to marry her in October. I had a plan.
1. Tell my parents and ask for their blessing.
2. Ask her father's permission
3. Get a ring
4. Propose
It was a fairly straight forward plan, and it was to be executed within two weeks time. Things didn't exactly stick to the time line though.
First of all my parents were very supportive which was fantastic. That part went according to plan.
Asking her father took a while, which was mostly my own nervousness. I decided to not ask him just yet because her mother was coming to visit and she was very busy with papers and such so I thought I would wait until these things had passed before asking the question that radically changes life's momentum. When I finally did work up the courage and thought that the time was right I phoned the house but he was either sick, or at work and I got to talk to her mother for an hour each time. Not a bad thing mind you, always very pleasant and encouraging, just not my initial objective. When I finally got a hold of him I tried to just cut the small talk and get to the chase, but what was supposed to be a friendly opening turned into a full five minutes of discussing weather, politics, cougars, and the fact that he never spends this much time on the phone with anyone. So after an eternity of beating around the bush I finally asked him and he said that he had already decided previous when I helped them move her in to her apartment. Yes.
Alright, so objectives 1 and 2 were complete. Now to get the ring. I went into town to search for rings. She liked white gold with amethyst. She explicitly told me that she wasn't interested in the more expensive rings, which naturally made me feel good inside. I found some 'ok' rings but nothing I was really satisfied with. I was going to drive out to Regina to see what they had when my two closest friends stopped me and told me about a guy in Ontario who builds engagement rings for manufacturers price and that they are far better quality than stock rings that you find in stores. I decided to go for that option and so began two full months of waiting...
First I couldn't get a hold of him because he was on vacation, then at some else's house, and so on. Finally we Facebooked his family to get him to contact me. He agreed to do business with me, much to my delight, and I got various friends to covertly discover her finger size, and pictures of the of rings that she was looking at. Discretion and accurate information take time, but they are worth it. Two weeks later I had what I needed and then my ring maker friend disappeared for another half week.
Meanwhile I had let something slip in my talking with her. I told her that something was going to happen eventually. Well female intuition caught that really quick. The topic became known as 'eventually' and she brought it up every day for six weeks. "When's eventually?" "Is it eventually yet?" Instead of trying to sweep it under the rug and let on that I didn't want her to ask which would arouse even more suspicion I joked about it and brought it up on occasion myself. "Eventually is a time in the future probably before the Lord's return." She would roll her eyes and pout and sometimes glomp me to try and pry the information out. Nobody has ever been able to keep a secret from her and I was holding out very well, but it was difficult. I longed to tell her that I was waiting for our engagement ring, but of course I couldn't do that.
Eventually the ring maker got back to me and said that the ring was going for casting and that it should be done in two weeks. Ugh... I was growing sick with waiting and it burning inside of me. But two weeks is a defined time, a certainty. So I held out and did not ever let on what 'eventually' was. Two weeks went by and the ring maker got busy and the ring did not get into the Friday mail. It got into the mail on Monday, my birthday in December and it was to arrive via Next AM Priority Post. Which, by the way, does not arrive next AM as the name would imply. I tracked the package, checking it every hour or every ten minutes. It was stuck in Halifax for three days...
It was agony! I had the proposal plan worked out perfectly but I was running out of time. I was leaving on Thursday to go home and I began to fear that the ring would be late or just lost somewhere within the bowels of the Halifax postal terminal. I was going to propose under the stars. I would wear my nice suit and wear my ratty red jacket over top so that she would not see it. Then as we would go out stargazing outside of town I would go 'grab a blanket' from the trunk of the car. I would then quickly take off my jacket, grab a rose already in the trunk and use the blanket to veil myself until I was close enough to wrap it around her. Then with a gasp of complete and utter surprise and delight she would see me and I would say "this is eventually,"
go down on one knee, propose my love to her and ask her to marry me. And there would be shooting stars and northern lights such as had not been seen or talked about since the night revival struck Caronport as the heavens themselves celebrated this blessed event!
It didn't happen this way.
The ring finally arrived Thursday morning. I was so relieved. I was a little over zealous in opening the package that I accidentally cut a chunk out of the official appraisal documents. It finally arrived, a beautiful solid ring, unique, the symbol of my love. I hadn't slept well for three nights but now it was finally here. There wouldn't be time for stargazing though, because we were leaving at 5:00. I decided that it was more important to be able to celebrate the event with our friends than to have my 'romantic fantasy.' I was so happy. I finished work early, got a rose from town, and put on my suit with the ratty red jacket as I had planned to do. The difference was that she would see it if she was observant, and there would be no time to slip out of the jacket without her seeing what I was doing. So I brought a gift with me. Lego Indiana Jones. She is a fan of the Lego series, so it would not be out of the ordinary.
When I came to her house I told her that I was on a very quick lunch break. She was caught up in her packing and was not having a good day because her suitcase was acting funny. I told her that I had another thing that she could put in the suitcase and handed her the game, but it came with instructions...
She had to go into the living room and face the TV
She then had to read a poem out loud
Inside the box was the definition of eventually
She hastily opened the box and pulled the paper out. It said this.
The Definition of Eventually:
When? Now!
Where? Here!
What? Turn Around...
She did so in a heart beat and that is when time stopped except for the country music coming out of her computer Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying."
There I stood, my suit, the rose, a soft face
She looked completely shocked and even startled
I took a few small steps closer and dropped to a knee
Her eyes widened even more in shock and she sat down quickly
I told her that I loved her, that I couldn't promise that I would ever be rich or successful or that she would never be disappointed with me, but I loved her and I wanted to spend my life with her. And then I reached into my pocket, produced the ring, and asked
"Victoria, will you marry me?"
She stared unbelieving, still completely shocked.
"Yes." She said abruptly, as if the verbal functions had been not been the first part of her brain to reboot. Then as soon as her mobility was back online she flying tackled me.
I had to steady myself and say "I love you" back to her several times with a mouth full of her hair. I had done it! All that waiting on both our parts, eventually was here! I could finally tell her now and she had never suspected. She had been too afraid to think that it could be my proposal lest she get her hopes up and be disappointed. I told her that she can dream freely now and hope fully. She phoned her mother and I heard her scream for joy across the room. She works at a long term care home and several co-workers and residents came to see if she was alright. Well I soon found out that she was better than alright, she thanked me in laughter and tears. She could not describe how happy she was, even though she described it many times and many ways over an extended period of time.
My love phoned her father, who was mourning the death of a close friend and mentor. His response was short and controlled, but he was deeply happy. (we could hear it in his voice)
Before leaving we got to share news with more friends like the post office ladies, the book store ladies, and more people from house church. My sister was so excited (she was at the initial gathering of friends). She could not contain her joy and it came out all the ride back home for Christmas in squeaks and giggles. Those two already love each other deeply as sisters, now they will be sisters!
Then finally we got to tell my parents when we arrived! If that wasn't enough we got to skype with my Grandparents and Uncle to tell them too. Such a joyful day!
So yes! We are engaged! Finally. I realize with amazement that all the prayers I have prayed for my future wife was for this women. This beautiful, amazing, awesome, woman.
And part of the fun is that it doesn't feel all that different. We are still Greg and Victoria as ever we were, but now we get to look forward to spending a life together. The wedding planning has begun, and I so look forward to it.
But enough for tonight, I have written for an hour and a half and I need to go to bed so that I can go to work in the morning.
I hope that you too may share in our joy as you read this account.
Greg Out
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