the engagement a la Justin!

Blessings

My family is pretty predictable; my fiancée’s family is not. I had been planning to ask her dad for their blessings in asking Laura to marry me for a long time, and the day had finally arrived. I was on my way back to Texas from visiting my family in Jackson, MS. I had planned to stop in on a Sunday afternoon. I knew that her mom would be at church playing the organ, so I would be able to talk to her father alone for a little while. Knowing their unpredictability, I make a practice of calling well ahead of time in order to be sure that someone will be home and I am not stuck outside visiting with their crazy dog for an hour.

Driving there, I called and called and could not get an answer, so by the time I arrived at the Winnsboro exit on Interstate 20, I was panicking a little bit. What if I arrived in Winnsboro, and there was no one at home? Finally, as I was nearly into the town, Laura’s father called me back, and told me that he would be home in about an hour. I figured that I could kill time for an hour just checking out her home town. I was wrong. Her home town is a so small that if you sneeze you will miss it. So I walked around her hometown Wal-Mart for about an hour waiting for someone to get home.

Finally, I went to her house and met up with her dad. We sat in the living room and had some small talk for a little while- how are the dogs doing, how’s basketball going for Katy, and the like. Finally, I got down to why I was there. I simply said something like, “Dr. John, you know that I love Laura, right?”

He responded, “Of course.”

I then stammered out, “W-w-will you give me your blessings in asking her to marry me?”

He sat there for a second with a smile on his face, and then he said, “Of course! You know, I sort of thought that might be what you were here for today.”

After this, he and I sat there and talked about how amazing of a woman Laura is, and I cannot say I disagreed with a single thing he said, but the more he spoke, the more I realized just how blessed I am to even know that woman much less to be on the verge of being engaged to her.

In the midst of this, Mrs. Charlotte came in from church, and Dr. John informed her that I was there to ask them something. I once again asked the question, this time with a little more comfort in the words, “Will you give me your blessings in asking her to marry me?”

At this, Mrs. Charlotte responded with tears in her eyes, “YES!” After her exclamation, she grabbed me and hugged me.

The three of us sat there and talked about when it would happen, if they should tell anyone about what we were discussing, and how long I had been planning to ask her.

The Ring

I had commissioned the ring over that same Thanksgiving break- in my natural, last minute nature. Laura and I had discussed what she liked for a long time, but that time during the commissioning, and the rings completion was quite stressful. It seemed that at least once a day I was calling to see how the ring was coming, and day after day, the news caused just as much apprehension as the previous one.

Finally, Christmas Eve arrived; the day of the proposal was there, but the ring was not in hand. This was the result of several difficulties in finding someone who would be able to produce a ring that met the requirements set forth and slow Christmas Eve delivery.

I arrived at the jewelry store at about 2:30 PM eager to pick up the ring. I had been told that it would be there that afternoon, so I expected to walk out with the ring, but the horrifying news attacked my ears; Fed Ex had not arrived with the ring, but another delivery was expected later that afternoon, so I went out to my pickup, and I drove around the city for several hours waiting anxiously.

With the help of Laura’s sisters whom had discovered my intentions for the evening by then, I was able to get out of the house without Laura discovering why I was to be gone for so long, so after a few hours, she was calling me to find out where I was. It was at that time that I realized how little time there was until her family’s Christmas Eve Party was to begin which is when I wanted to propose in front of her whole family and all their close friends.

I returned to the jeweler’s and, the ring setting had arrived, so I sat and waited, oh so patiently, for the diamonds to be mounted. Finally, the ring was finished, and I looked even more beautiful than I could have ever believed.

I rushed back to Winnsboro with one thing on my mind. I had been pondering the way that I would ask Laura that important question for quite sometime, but I still felt that I could make it better; I honestly was questioning the entire way that I had planned to ask the question. The closer I drew to the house in Winnsboro, the more I could feel my stomach sinking deeper and deeper still.

The Proposal

The moment was, at last, upon us. The party had gone on for about an hour, and I was beginning to sense that the time was right, so I entered the living room with Laura’s hand in mine. We positioned ourselves in front of the fireplace. Some fellows had arrived earlier with guitars and were playing as a cousin sang; Laura’s sister, Emily, realizing what we were about to do, silenced the players for a moment. I announced that I had something to say:

Tonight, we celebrate new beginnings. We celebrate the new beginning offered to us through Jesus whose birth we have come together to celebrate.

We also celebrate the birth of baby Madeline whom many here are meeting for the first time tonight.

I would like to add one more ‘new beginning’ to this list. [I got down on one knee at this point]. I would like to add the beginning of our lives together. Laura, will you marry me?

While I was saying these words, Laura began to cry hysterically, and when I was done, she told me to get up, and she hugged me. Her sisters surrounded to see the ring, and then someone realized that she had not said, “Yes,” or, “No.” So one of the sisters asked her, “Well, what do you say?”

She responded with a tearful, “YES!”, and then the rest of the family circled us with hugs and hope to see the ring.

After that, the entire situation became one big blur of hugs, kisses, and handshakes, so I must apologize for the lack of detail henceforth. After this, my grandparents went home to go to bed, but the party continued, someone decided to open a bottle of champagne to celebrate the event, and cups of bubbly, golden elixir were passed about the room. With cups in hand, Laura’s father gave a toast in honor of the big event of the night.

Now, I eagerly await the day when my fiancée becomes my wife. I cannot imaging spending the rest of my life with anyone else. I fear that too few people get the opportunity that I have in her and that is to marry one’s best friend. I wish that everyone could find someone who means as much to him as she does to me.