We're Engaged

Well, not that anyone was surprised. After all it had been 13 months, 18 days, and 22 hours that we've been dating before it happened. But just so you all know this is how it happened.

On December 21st I met with Irene's dad to ask for permission and blessing to marry his daughter. (He said yes, and actually wasn't as hard on me as I had feared.) Evidently a few hints were dropped that he was meeting with me, but nothing could spoil the special day.

Not even having to delay the fancy meal I was going to cook for Irene could spoil things. I had purchased all the ingredients for some amazing Lamb Shanks, but forgot the read the directions about marinating "overnight". Well, we couldn't wait overnight for lunch, so we left for Longwood Gardens, a beautiful private park in the Philly suburbs.

Before leaving the house and on the way to the park I gave Irene several gifts; perfume and a necklace. Not that she needed buttering up or anything :-) One of these gifts was a red rose boutonniere. I had never given her red roses before so that was a big sign. She thought the boutonniere looked better on me so she made me wear it around the park. The gardens were beautiful. We had lunch, walked around, and sang Christmas carols in a big group sing-a-long. (I love singing Christmas carols.)

And then I asked her to marry me and she said yes. The End!

Ha ha... Just joking. I mean yeah, she said yes, but no one will let me get away with that simple of an explanation.

They put up all these Christmas lights in the trees, so as it got darker and more romantic the crowds got worse and worse. I didn't know what to do because I wasn't going to leave the park without proposing. I killed a little time by wandering around the park. Finally, I marched Irene out to the middle of a large field surrounded by trees and lights. It felt like everyone in the park could see us, but at least we were by ourselves. I got down on my knees (kneeling on my gloves because it was muddy) and pulled a speech (written just that morning) out of my pocket. I recounted several times were I had deeply appreciated Irene's support or friendship or otherwise could not have made it without her. I told her that I loved her and asked her to marry me. She said yes. I got up and as we hugged a huge cheer rang out from all around the field and someone shouted "Merry Christmas". Evidently the entire park WAS watching. I let out a "woo hoo". We spent a few more minutes in the field hugging and talking.

On our way out we stopped in the gift shop and bought two matching Christmas ornaments, matching bells, to commemorate the occasion. We finally made it home and spent the rest of the evening making our fancy dinner and talking.

So if you were reading closely you may have noticed that I said nothing about a ring. Well, I actually didn't have one when I proposed. The jeweler had received my payment two days late because of the Christmas mail delay. The jeweler actually left a voicemail about 10 minutes before I proposed letting me know that everything was ready and that we could pick up the ring. The next day we picked up the ring and there were gasps, and hugs, and leaps of joy almost like a second proposal. Irene was happy, and I was happy that she was happy.

The End!


(Posted by Andrew)