…engaged…

Two long stories in a row…but this is a really good one.


DG and I had been planning take a trip home to see my family over Labor Day weekend, but as the holiday approached, we learned he would be stuck here in Nashville working. So…I decided to go without him. I hadn't been home since May, so I was anxious to go. He was a good sport and understood. I drove the seven hour trip by myself Friday after work. It was torture. I was tired and cranky and missing my man friend very badly. He called around 11:00 and kept me awake until I arrived safely at midnight. I was grateful. The next day, my family and I decided we'd spend the day hanging out together, so we planned to go see a movie at the new-ish theatre downtown. We'd never been, and Mom and Dad wanted to check it out. So the four of us (Mom, Dad, Baby Brother, and I) were out on the town for the day. Our movie ended around 6:00, and we were hungry, so Dad said, "Why don't we find some place different to eat for dinner? Some place we don't go a lot."

Being in downtown Springfield, I was reminded of this cute little hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant where DG and I went for our first 'real' date. It was months into our relationship by the time we got around to any sort of romantic evening, but that was just the nature of living 500 miles apart. This particular evening, DG had come to visit for the weekend and desperately wanted to go ice skating. A boy from Orlando, FL who has an affinity for ice skating. Even owns his own skates. Go figure. It sounded like fun to me, so that's exactly what we did.  After two rigorous hours of skating in circles and three nasty falls, I was battered and bruised and HUNGRY. We drove around downtown for a few minutes looking for something good to eat when we passed by Nonna's. I'd eaten there once before, a very long time ago, and knew it was a quaint, authentic kind of place. Right up our alley. So, all decked out in our sweatshirts, jeans, and tennis shoes we walked in to this little establishment.

It's pretty low key, so we weren't all that out of place. Immediately, DG noticed that you can see down into the kitchen from the second floor, so he requested a table up there. We had a lovely evening just enjoying each other's company and loving being in love. It was perfect. We even talked about how we'd have to make Nonna's a regular stop every time we were in Springfield together.

So…back to my other story.

Being near the restaurant and wishing DG were there with us, I piped up and said, "There's this great little Italian place around the corner that DG and I really like. We could go there." Everyone agreed that Italian sounded really good, so we hopped in the car and headed that direction. Dad dropped me at the street corner to walk inside and make sure there was a table for us before he went looking for a parking space. I opened the doors and saw that the place was virtually empty, so I immediately looked at the waiter-man standing there and said, "You don't have a wait! I'll be back!" I walked back outside to motion to my family, and they drove off to park the car. While I was standing there on the street waiting, I thought I'd call DG to tell him we were all going to eat at our place and that I missed him. Before his voicemail kicked in, he walked out the front doors of the restaurant with a huge grin on his face and just said, "Hi." I was in such shock that it took me a beat or two to even recognize that it was him because he was so out of context.
"You…you're not supposed to be here," I stuttered. He shrugged. "You're supposed to be at work. How did you get here?" I'm pretty sure I repeated those two sentences about 20 times over the 15 minutes it took me to calm down and figure out what was going on. I asked, "Is my family coming?"
"No." He ushered me inside and took me to the same table where we'd been seated on that first date. "Recognize this table?" he asked.
"Uh, yeah. Ok seriously, how did you get here?" There was a lot to take in, so we sat, holding hands across the table for a few minutes while I tried to compose myself.
DG explained that we'd missed out on celebrating our six month anniversary because of our schedules and he had promised to make it up to me, so that was what he was doing. I was elated.
"I brought you a present," he said. After we'd ordered our food, he slid a nicely packaged jewelry box across the table.
"Seriously?" I said. Inside was this beautiful key pendant. (He liked my idea!)

I loved it. "It's perfect," I said.
We went on to have a wonderful meal and ordered some coffee afterward. We have a thing for coffee. Somehow it's been present in every significant moment of our relationship. I don't know if that's sweet or if it just means I have an addiction, but either way, this was Italian French-pressed coffee and it made my heart happy.
DG pulled a tiny piece of paper from his shirt pocket and said, "I made some notes."
He was visibly nervous, but I thought he was just being sentimental. He read to me his thoughts of the six years we've known each other. He talked about how he spent most of those six years chasing after me and despite all the distractions and discouragement, life brought us together. He said how the last year has been the happiest of his life and how nothing would make him happier than to have me as his partner. Then he told me he loved me and pulled another, smaller box from his jacket.
"I get two presents in one day???"
He just smiled. As a restaurant filled with people turned to look at him, he knelt down in front of me and opened his tiny box to reveal the most perfect ring I've ever seen.
"Um, everyone is staring," I whispered to him.
"I know. It's ok," he said.
At that point he said something about marrying me and I said something about yes I would….I assume. That moment is a bit of a blur. Between the sparkly ring, and the people looking, and his tear-filled eyes, remembering the script word for word was just not going to happen. I'm sure I kissed him, though I don't remember that part either, and he slipped the ring on my finger. As he stood to sit back in his seat, our audience erupted into applause.
"Oh, you have supporters!" I teased.

It was like something out of a movie. He'd been scheming with my family for weeks.  I fell in love with him all over again as he sat there confessing all the little charades he'd put on to pull off the surprise and kept gushing about the ring and why he'd chosen it. I love that he loves it too.  We hung around a little while longer before we left and got in his one-way rental car. He'd cued the CD player to the Keith Urban's Only You Can Love Me This Way, which is the song he wants to use for the first dance at our wedding. I leaned over to put my head on his shoulder while we drove in silence, just listening. I cried as I sat there thinking to myself, "Drink this in. Engrave every detail on your mind. Memorize every thought, every feeling. This only happens once."

When we arrived home, my parents had invited my grandparents over and had picked up some desert for all of us to share. DG had planned to have his mom there as well. She'd bought tickets to fly in, but she was sick and unable to travel. We missed her, but I still loved the fact that at least some of our family was there to celebrate with us.

So yes…I am officially engaged! J And I get to wear this pretty guy around all day, every day, for ever after…


P.S.
Dear DG,
I've corrected the spelling of your good friend Jimmy BuffetT's name.  My appologies.  It was an honest mistake.  I certainly didn't mean to defame your beloved.
I ♥ you.
Sincerely,
Racheal