Flashback: She said Yes

Alex and I are now a little over 4 months into our first year of marriage, and while our first anniversary is still months away another important milestone took place 1 year ago: the day I asked my dear Alex to become my wife.

It took some planning to actually choose the day that I would ask Alex to marry me.  I wanted to ask her father before hand but I didn't want to leave too much time between when I visited with him and when I would see Alex again.  Because of this I actually waited a couple of months later than I would have liked but finally all the pieces fell into place.  I was able to take some time off from school and work so I could go to Alex's hometown and ask for her father's blessing.

I knew I would have to propose to her fairly early once she got there.  I was bursting at the seams at the thought of asking her to marry me and I could never have kept it too myself for very long.  So our proposal story is fairly simple.  I took her on a walk around campus visiting various spots that had meaning to our relationship and then dropped to one knee in a grove of trees that offered some privacy.

I don't really think that I surprised her.  Later she would admit that she knew something was up the instant I bounded out of the house like a moose who got hold of some funny  mushrooms.  But she said yes and didn't even have to hesitate. Then we shared our first kiss.  And it was magical.


Alex's comments and a few more details:
For guys a proposal story boils down to getting a yes, getting a kiss, and ultimately getting the girl.  Other frivolous details aren't critical to those three objectives.  So my version may be a little bit longer.

Last fall semester I realized that a few girls in my class had bets placed on who the next one of us in a serious relationship would become engaged.  My name was at the top of the list.  On weekends when I would head to visit Arthur all my friends would ask if it was going to be this weekend that he popped the question.  There was one weekend when he called me during the week stating that he was excited for my visit and that he had something very special planned.  This piqued my curiosity but it turned out the surprise was that he was making grilled cheese sandwiches for our dinning pleasure that night-- I do like grilled cheese sandwiches.  Several more weeks passed and I was busy with finishing up school work.  We had our final comprehensive exam, a 4 hour test covering 3 years of material to study for.  As we were relaxing right before the exam that afternoon my friends asked me again if it was going to be this weekend.  I didn't think so but maybe.  While I was under a lot of stress that afternoon taking my test I didn't realize Arthur was meeting with my father-  I probably had the better deal.

The next morning as I drove up he bounded out his front door with more energy and excitement than I had ever seen before.  At that point I knew something was up.  We drove to campus and he pulled out a letter I had written him a few years earlier while I was in Alaska for the summer.  The letter had a map of campus with numbers corresponding to some of my favorite spots on campus-- the location of our first date, my favorite trees, a building I had several classes in, etc.  We visited all the spots and had a great time remembering some of our previous outings around campus.  Then Arthur pulled me off the sidewalk into a grove of trees I had walked by every day as a student that was basically across the street from where I had lived for 4 years.  He got down on one knee and I started smiling really big- as if I didn't know what was shortly going to follow.  He asked me to be his wife.  I responded that it would be an honor and a pleasure to marry him.  We kissed for the first time.  And we kissed again.  And a few more times after that.

That evening I was staying with my cousin who graciously offered me a place to stay whenever I visited Arthur.  We were chatting a little bit before going to bed and she asked, "So, what's new with you?" I coolly responded, "Well, Arthur asked me to marry him today and I said yes."  At that point slight pandemonium broke out.  Later, the next week I was back in class when one of my classmates noticed my ring and gave a muffled shriek during lecture.  During our break in the hallway the congratulations got a little to rambunctious and the teacher in the next classroom came out and asked us to be quiet.  A few more classmate walked up missing the first announcement and more commotion broke out causing this other instructor to come out of the classroom again and request that our teacher please control us.  I don't think Arthur realized how much chaos he would cause with a ring on my finger.  Omnia Vincit Amor.