Long Relationships

With all of this talk about proposing, it begs the question, “How did JG ask you?”

As proposals go, I’m rather picky. As I’ve mentioned, I dislike public proposals hypothetically but I loathe the thought personally. If I had anything to say about it, there would be no ballfields, blimps, or bullhorns present if the memory was going to be free of dread. Also, I tend to glaze over during proposal stories that involve some sort of recitation of Shakespeare or poetry. I love literature, but that is not the point of the proposal. Save it for the open mic, Buddy, and get to the point.

I communicated my preferences as clearly as I could after it became clear to JG that he would probably have to think about the delivery of The Question. He thought my proposal pet peeves were amusing, however, and felt the need to taunt me every time we were at a sporting event or saw a plane fly overhead. “What if I proposed to you right now, on the scoreboard?”, he’d ask. “What if that plane is a skywriter and it spelled out a proposal from me?”

I’d roll my eyes and mutter that if he knew me at all, none of those absurd things would happen. And they didn’t, thank heaven.

At the end of the summer spent apart, JG and I moved back in for our last year of college. After getting situated in our respective rooms, JG suggested that we go for a walk. It would be a nice way to enjoy a relatively empty campus.

We set out on our usual loop and I had an inexplicable feeling that something big was going to happen. I did my best to breathe deeply and act normally, but my mind was racing.

Oh, my gosh, what if JG is proposing tonight? He’s been grumbling about how he hasn’t found a ring yet, but what if that’s a front? He’s being awfully quiet right now… But maybe nothing is going on. It won’t be good if I get all excited and then nothing happens. I can’t be disappointed if this is just a normal walk, but it would be so cool to get engaged tonight! It’s so pretty out and hardly anyone is around, yet. No, I can’t get excited. That’s not fair to him or me. I can’t fool myself into thinking that every walk or time alone means a proposal. Besides, JG might not even have a ring, right? Okay, I need to be fine with the fact that we are not getting engaged tonight. And that’s okay. No need to be let down. It’s okay.

Presently, we sat down at a bench that we thought of as ours. It looked to me as though JG took something out of his cargo pocket, but in response to my inquisitive face, he said, “Oh, just a mosquito.�

Okay, calm yourself down.

Then we were quiet. “I love you,� JG said.

“I love you, too!�

Silence, again. What is going on?

“I love you,� he repeated.

“I still love you…� I said, slowly.

All at once, he was down on one knee! He held an open ring box and said, “I love you – will you marry me?�

Then I laughed.

Not at him! Just in general! I laugh when I’m nervous or happy and this was both! I laughed and then I quickly said, “Yes!�

JG put the ring on my finger and we both grinned from ear to ear. That “yes” didn’t make up for the laughing, though. I have never heard the end of it.

proposal, engagement, surprise

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