So, in my family, it’s traditional for the girl to propose. And, seriously, we don’t give guys enough credit for how NERVE-WRACKING the whole experience is!
But, I get ahead of myself.
I met my husband on OKCupid. Not even on purpose. I saw his account, thought he was too young but brave for trying, and sent him a message that amounted to ‘You can do it! Keep trying!’ and then forgot all about it. Just a spur of the moment kind thought.
He, however, had created his account less than 24 hours before, and I was his VERY FIRST MESSAGE. And he was super hopeful! And waited for the rest of the messages and replies to his messages to come back!
*crickets*
I may have inadvertently made it look easier than it was. No one else ever messaged him or replied to him.
So he tried talking to me.
I was sort of seeing a Really Cool Guy and wasn’t hugely interested, but it was super casual, and after a couple months I agreed to a date. I broke EVERY DATING RULE EVER and invited him out to a secluded house, at night, alone for tacos.
Don’t do what I did. Seriously, DON’T. I was SO LUCKY he wasn’t a serial killer!!!
Also, the tacos were super spicy and made him sick. Whoops!
But he wasn’t. A serial killer, that is. He was cute and sweet tempered and quiet, and he stayed for six days.
I told the guy I was sort of seeing about him on day three and got a very kind ‘You can do it! Keep trying!’
And that’s how I met the love of my life. I was pretty messed up, sick with Bipolar, sick with wheat allergies, wounded from a relationship that went down in flames. It took me a while to realize he was the one, but I was willing to give it a try.
He says he knew IMMEDIATELY. Which is super sweet of him. I was a hot mess.
But, after a while, THAT word started jokingly coming up.
Marriage.
*gasp*
Oh, yeah, proposing is MY job!
And I realized I had to find him a ring. Now, I knew he knew what I was planning because how on earth do you get someone’s finger sized without them knowing if they don’t have any jewelry?!? I brought him to Sears.
I was not subtle.
And I bought him the ring.
The one in the center there, with the chain. It’s exactly like that.
And one St. Patty’s Day, I had a couple stiff drinks, got on my knees, and stammered out a proposal.
Guys, I have SO MUCH sympathy for you now! I about had a heart attack, and I already knew he’d say ‘yes’!
And there’s tons more to the story, but let’s flash forward to when we got married. The rings above are actually mine. There’s the actual wedding band on the left, my copy of the engagement ring, and then my grandmothers great aunt’s somebody’s ring (grandma didn’t remember whose originally was) to keep them on because I’ve lost weight.
Look at the one on the left? See the line?
It does this:
And we’ve talked about getting it engraved someday. He has an exact copy, and they’re both in brass because we’re frugal.
Not cheap. Frugal. *nod*
Here’s a good shot of it closed:
Because our two hearts fit together quite nicely.
And isn’t that a neat story? *Smile*
Have you met your significant other? Is THAT WORD on the table? What traditions does your family have? What does your ring (if you have one) look like? How does your story go? *smile*
