in today's "on the nature of", i mentioned that today is a day of some personal significance to me.
today marks the 10 year anniversary of when my wife and i got engaged, and i've decided to tell that story today.
my wife & i met in college. we attended a small liberal arts school and we got to know one another primarily through the school's theatre group (i was a techie; she an actor), then we became friends and finally, we became romantically involved.
we learned that summer that our parents lived only 20 minutes away from one another--so strange that we had to travel to another state to find each other.
after college, i continued living with my parents w/ an eye towards buildling up some savings before i bought an engagement ring--you see, i'd already known by then that she was the one for me. i worked my job and twice a week, we would get together at a pub that was located halfway b/n the houses. we were on very good terms w/ the bartender and wait staff--enough so that we invited two of them to our wedding. at table 12, twice a week, we talked about everything under the sun--and quite a few things that weren't. we talked about the things that matter and the things that don't; the things that drew us together and the things that served to distance us; the sublime and the silly.
after a number of years of this, i knew the time was right. a friend of mine recently got engaged and had a book i knew i would find helpful. it was a book on how to select diamonds, what the 4 "c"s mean, understand what my budget permitted, etc.
now, around that time, whenever she talked about our future together, i became noncommittal. i knew that with valentine's day coming, with as many years together as we'd had, she might expect me to pop the question, and i very much wanted to surprise her, you see.
at the time, she was tending bar at a neighborhood place. i went in and finally found one of her friends that i felt i could trust not to blab and explained my predicament: "linda, i want to buy her a ring, but i don't know what size. do you think you could--"
no sooner were the words out of my mouth when her broad smile broke out and she whispered furiously, "ed that's great, of course! wait right here".
now, my intended was working that night--i knew i had to do this on a night when she was working or the likelihood of my getting someone alone long enough to explain my intentions was really small. linda approached her a few minutes later and quite nonchalantly commented on my love's hands--something about gloves, i think it might have been. in response, she quite naturally blurted out her ring size.
i stole a glance at linda, who risked a smirk at me.
so armed and without consulting anyone else, one january saturday saw me set off for my mother's favorite jewelry store. it's a place i knew well, knew they did good work and were reliable.
selecting the diamond was the easy part--i knew i wanted quality, not carats. the diamond i bought was smaller but definitely quality--great color and clarity, standard brilliant-cut. this part took no more than 15 mins. the setting--now that was trouble. i knew already that i wanted a platinum setting--neither she nor i like gold or the look of it. for casual jewelry we favor silver, so platinum was the logical step.
the hard part was waiting until i could propose. i couldn't breathe a word of it to her. and it was killing me.
we were both still living w/ our respective parents at that time. when she told me that her parents were going away that weekend, that just made it all the better.
she offered to make dinner that night. i insisted on bringing the wine, so i packed a bottle of wine, a bottle of champagne, and the ring.
our custom is always to have a toast when we drink. when i arrived, i handed her the wine (a barbera or perhaps a cabernet, i no longer recall precisely). she disappeared to open it and poured 2 glasses. when she returned, she asked "what should we drink to?"
this was the moment i'd been waiting for the past four weeks. i pulled the box out of my pocket and flipped it open. "why don't we drink to the rest of our lives together?"
sinking to one knee, i looked up at her and asked the question that's been burning a hole in my mind for months: "will you marry me?"
she later told me that she amazed herself by not dropping the wine, or even spilling any.
that happy day was 10 years ago today. i look forward to the next ten, and beyond.
ed
silverwhisper posted on Feb 14, 2007
| views: 643
Comments
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Tinkerman said on Feb 14, 2007....
Happy 10th wedding anniversary! -
sweetsoul said on Feb 14, 2007....
oh ed that's lovely...very thoughtful and romantic. I love hearing you talk about your relationship with your wife.Wishing you many more years of happiness together.oh just a question. Did you purposely put the underline on? ;) -
Alyss said on Feb 14, 2007....
That is so romantic and such a special engagement anniversary to have too. =)
Have to say you were lucky that she knew her ring size, I wouldn't have done!
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MissMimi said on Feb 14, 2007....
Ed I hope you and the lovely MrsSW have many many more years of happiness. When you write about the love you have for her, the words glow. You both make me smile. -
queenparanoia said on Feb 14, 2007....
hi ed.that was sweet!!! happy valentines day!!! -
silverwhisper said on Feb 14, 2007....
tinkerman: slight correction, it's the anniversary of our engagement, but my thanks!
sweetsoul: heh...i tried creating a link to today's "on the nature of" but the ' in the title screwed up the link so i had to remove it. :> so was deliberately making her think i was getting cold feet still thoughtful? :> i shall have to blog more about the mrs, i see...
alyss: yeah, i knew i wanted it to be a special date, you know? :> in all honesty, i'm a little surprised she knew her size myself! :>
mimi: thank you, my friend. :>
queen: hey there, thanks! and a happy valentine's day to you, too!
ed -
harriedpsychmajor said on Feb 14, 2007....
I really enjoyed that story, Ed. My best wishes to you and your wife! -
HotAir said on Feb 14, 2007....
How lovely! You are a wonderfully romantic guy. I hope you two have an exceptionally good day. -
silverwhisper said on Feb 14, 2007....
harried, thank you!
hotair: i'm not nearly as romantic as i'd like to be, sadly, but thanks! the weather looks like it's gonna screw up our plans but i guess that just means we'll have to improvise. :>
ed -
momsrock said on Feb 14, 2007....
That is so sweet Ed....romantic without over doing it...Very nicely done! :) Happy valentines day to you and your wife! -
husbandhater said on Feb 14, 2007....
That is such a sweet and fitting story ed. Congrats! -
polarheart said on Feb 14, 2007....
Well done, Ed, may you indeed have many many more years together! -
dailyachesandpains said on Feb 14, 2007....
Happy Engagement anniversary!!!My Husband did the same thing, quality over size, and platinum too!He bought me a new pair of shoes that I was really wanting and stuffed the ring inside. I didn't know why one shoe was killing me when I tried them on and that's when he went down to one knee in front of my Parent's and asked!Yeah, original, lolDaily -
dailyachesandpains said on Feb 14, 2007....
P.S. How long after did you get married? -
silverwhisper said on Feb 14, 2007....
MR: thank you! i'm looking forward to trying to sneak out early to celebrate. :>
HH: thank you, i realized i don't often tell personal stories like this last week so i'm trying to be better about it.
polarheart: thank you!
daily: my thanks! and i had a feeling he might have--remember, i did see your wedding pics. :> the shoe thing is interesting--was that a whole cinderella sorta thing or something? o, and we got married the following year. :>
ed -
CreativeWoman said on Feb 14, 2007....
ed,
That is so sweetly, tenderly romantic. Congratulations on celebrating the one that his perfect for you.
CW
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yani said on Feb 14, 2007....
ed,
Whenever you talk about your wife, which is seldom I might point out, you never fail to make me smile. It's wonderful, isn't it, to spend those years with someone you truly love and still very much looking forward for the years to come. Both of you are very lucky. Happy Anniversary!
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Lucytorial said on Feb 14, 2007....
You big romantic man! - congratulations and I hope your celebrations are as remarkable as your engagement and marraige! lol tobi-lee -
mom said on Feb 14, 2007....
ED- that was so romantic and fairy tale like. I am envious of your wife. You are both so lucky to have each other and that the feelings exchanged between the two of you are equal. -
dailyachesandpains said on Feb 14, 2007....
I loved your post so much, I LET my husband read it. He enjoyed it too!Ed, they were Timberland boots....hardly a Cinderalla story, lol!{{{hugs}}}Daily -
Lioness said on Feb 14, 2007....
Wow, that is sooooo romantic ed. I never thought guys could really go that far in planning and proposing. I thought it happens when it happens. I think it is worth mentioning that I was holding my breath while reading your post.
She is so lucky.
Congratulations!!!!! More happy years to come! =)
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agentPit said on Feb 14, 2007....
I barely my full 5th year, she cheated me twice.
Wish you both the best and another 10 to come. -
Dicconzane said on Feb 15, 2007....
A wonderful story. It was a privelege to read it. Thank you. -
jen01 said on Feb 15, 2007....
wow, that's really nice. i wish you guys will be happy for ever after!!! -
rmuxagirl said on Feb 15, 2007....
Awe Ed! This story made me cry! It was so sweet. -
scrpbkqueen said on Feb 15, 2007....
Ed, that was so sweet! My husband and I met on Valentine's day six years ago. He was going to propose on our one year anniversary, but he couldn't wait two weeksu until Valentine's. I wasn't expecting at all. -
redrocks said on Feb 20, 2007....
what a cute and romantic story!
thanks for sharing ;)
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silverwhisper said on Feb 20, 2007....
holy crap, i didn't realize there were comments i enver saw! sorry, folks!
CW: thank you, my friend. :> i apologize b/c i know that this was a difficult day for you.
yani: thank you! :D
tobi-lee: sadly, i drank too much, but i made up for it the next day. :D
mom: from the bottom of my heart, thank you.
daily: bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha! sorry, i figured they were something pretty! and [hug] :>
lioness: please remember to breathe! :D and you know, we can be quite clever--sometimes. :>
agentpit: thank you for visiting my blog. i'm sorry to hear that--i hope that this is something you can overcome. infidelity can be very painful, i know.
dicconzane: no, no...it was a privilege to live it, sir.
jen: we're working on it! :D
r: [hands you some tissues] sorry about that! :>
scrpbkqueen: see, it's tough to wait, and you know we guys are all about immediate gratification... :D i haven't seen you in a very long time--i hope you've been well.
redrocks: thank you for visiting my blog and welcome to soulcast! i'm glad you enjoyed reading it!
ed -
scrpbkqueen said on Feb 20, 2007....
Hi Ed. I'm been fine, just busy. Work has been nonstop the last few weeks. Thanks for asking. -
diabolicdame said on May 06, 2008....
I found it Ed! Thought I'd save you the trouble of linking.. Ah.. what a beautiful story! You did surprise her I think and the proposal was so romantic too.. awwww... a very belated congratulations! :-) -
silverwhisper said on May 06, 2008....
thank you, diabolic! i'm amazed you were able to find it! :>
ed -
diabolicdame said on May 06, 2008....
Wasn't all that difficult Ed.. how many stories could you have possibly tagged with love and proposal! :-)
And anyway I regularly amaze people.. I'm getting used to it now. hehehe.. just kidding.. lol.. :-D
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silverwhisper said on May 06, 2008....
[trout-smack!] -
diabolicdame said on May 07, 2008....
I did not see that coming! Gotta say you've got great timing with that trout! lol :-D -
silverwhisper said on May 07, 2008....
why thank you! :D
ed
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