When I saw that one of Mama Kat’s prompts this week was to tell the story of your proposal, I immediately knew I should participate. Because I loved mine.
As I’ve mentioned too many times before, Lee and I have been together for a long time. Since high school. And honestly? We felt early on that we would get married once the time was right and spend our lives together. I’m sure a lot of teenagers feel that way, but it turned out we were right. Anyway, you might think that the proposal was anti-climactic since there was never any doubt that we would get married.
But it was wonderful. We had decided the summer after Lee graduated from college that the time was right to take that next step towards engagement and then marriage. We discussed it together. We went ring shopping together. But I never knew when the proposal would happen. And I knew my husband would come up with something that would surprise me.
Some of my memories of the day aren’t perfect, but I do remember some details. We were at my parents’ house. They were out of town. We were staying with my little brother (who was happy to be in on the surprise planning with Lee). I was sent out on some sort of errand, and when I returned, I saw notes on each of the stairs leading to the top.
Read these in order, then come to your room.
Obviously, I knew something was up.
There were 22 messages for me. I asked Lee the significance of the number this morning, and neither of us came up with any, so we’re assuming that’s just how many steps there were. My husband is an amazing writer. He has such a way with words and knows just how to say what I want to hear without knowing it’s what I wanted to hear, from the first letter he wrote to me when I was at summer Governor’s School, to a letter he gave me over the summer after I’d been out of town at a conference for a week. His words never fail to move me in some way.
Some of my favorite lines from the notes (I pulled them out of our lock box this morning where they’re saved so that we’ll never lose them), starting with the first note. I’m not including all the things that would only ever mean something to me because they were our shared memories of our years together (and I did ask him this morning if he minded if I shared some of his words here).
I’d seen you before.
I knew who you were.
I wanted to know about you.
I wanted to know you.
You were mine. You had to be.
Because you are perfect.
Because when I’m with you, I’m perfect.
Because I love you.
I want a family.
That doesn’t mean a house. It doesn’t
mean kids. It doesn’t mean the
same last name. It doesn’t mean
filing jointly. It doesn’t mean
sleeping together. I want some
of those things.
Maybe I want all of them.
But I know I want a family.
That means love.
That means forever.
That means you.
I’ve made you read all this alone
so that you would realize how
much I have to say, and how
nice it is that when we’re
together, I don’t have to say a word.
Now you’re finished. It’s time
for you to come find me.
I have something to say to you.
And so I found him in my bedroom, waiting with my ring to ask me to marry him. There was never any doubt about the answer. And even though I felt like we’d essentially been engaged for years already, I was surprised how nice it felt to take that next official step towards marriage. And so happy that he made this a special moment for us when he could have just as easily bought the ring and said, “So, let’s plan a wedding.” I would have said yes to that, too, but this way was much, much better.
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I hope none of what you quoted is too hokey. I had to skip over those parts because I won’t read anything I wrote more than say, a week ago, on account of it all sucks. I’m happy it worked, though. It was touch-and-go for a few minutes there. And if I’d misspelled something it would’ve been all over.
It’s not hokey. It’s wonderful, and so are you. There were a lot of parts that made me laugh, too. All around, you did an amazing job with these, and I’m glad I pulled them back out to read again. I think I was so happy I wouldn’t have pointed out a misspelling if you’d had one.
When was it touch-and-go? Never?
I remember that day! My part of being in on the surprise was Lee telling me that me and Grandma had to be out of the house for like an hour that afternoon because he was proposing to you! I think Grandma and I went to Sonic. Sounds about right.
I knew you’d remember more details than I do, brother.
Here from Mama Kat. I love engagement stories. He did good.
I certainly thought so
That is so amazing! It’s beautiful. It sounds like he is a sweet guy!!
Thank you – he is
Here from Mama Kat – What a great proposal! Thank you for sharing your husband’s words and your memories!
Thanks for reading them
Aw, that is so romantic. I want to make fun of him because that’s what a good sister does, but it’s just too sweet.
I know! I loved reading through them again. I left out a lot of the good stuff
I remember that weekend also – mainly because I didn’t notice the ring when Dad and I got home!! It was a very special time, though.
I remember kind of waving my hand in front of your face to see if you’d notice!
That is so sweet! I love creative proposals like that.
Thanks, Rach. He’s a creative kind of guy. I’m not a creative kind of girl, so we’re balanced
I loved this post (and Lee’s proposal)! What a wonderful story!
Thanks, Jodi Ann! I really enjoyed reading through it again and remembering.
Oh my gosh, it’s too too sweet to think about you two. I love that you posted this. I just keep picturing him sitting there waiting for you to walk in the room!
I really enjoyed reading through and remembering