The Proposal, an interview

I finagled an interview with the man who stole my heart 7 and a half years ago and proposed to me at Paradise Lookout at Mt. Rainier. Oh, those were good times. I thought this would be the best way to tell you about the proposal since it was ultimately his plan. My wonderful husband is not into giving personal details out, so this will be the one and only representation of him on this blog if you don't leave lots of comments! Enjoy the story...

As we all know, I had a crush on you that whole first summer and had about given up hope on a relationship with you. When were you first interested in me?

The first time I saw you again at Dan’s bonfire (May). I was interested. You had just got back from Europe and I wanted to get to know you more.

If you were interested, why didn't you ask me out on a date? 

We saw each other a lot that summer, so I was getting to know you. It made more sense to me to make a friend first and then there isn't any pressure (or rejection). By the time we had the afternoon in the combine in August, you were a sure thing to me. I knew I wanted to date you.

A sure thing, hmm. I'll let that go. Our relationship progressed really quickly after it finally started. When did you first know you were in love? 

Way before you did. I don’t remember the date. Probably a couple weeks or so after the combine ride.

The proposal was quite complicated. How did you come up with the idea? 

I didn’t want to propose at Christmas because that was too typical. I wanted to catch you off guard. So I needed to get going on a plan. You invited me to go with you to your parents in November, so I thought that would be a good time. I thought about stopping at Mt. Rainier and making the excuse to go on a hike before going to your parents.

What was the plan and who did you tell? 

On the Monday or Tuesday before our Olympia trip, I got up in the morning and told my parents that I was going to see your parents to ask if I could marry you. They were both really, really surprised. I guess I should have brought you around more because my mom said, “But we don’t even know her!” 

I looked up the address the night before and Mapquested the directions to your parent’s camp. Then I made the 3 hour trip and got there at about 11 in the morning. I went to the camp office and asked to see Tom or Sherri. I was trying to be covert, but then I realized the secretary was your aunt. She asked why I needed to see them, so I told her I was Alysun’s boyfriend. She suddenly got very giddy and radioed Sherri. I think she knew what I was up to. Your aunt said I better get to know the family and she took me to meet your uncle [the camp director] and your grandparents who were visiting for the week. I had never met any of them, so it was scary.

Your mom finally showed up to rescue me and was pretty curious why I was there. I told her that I needed to ask Tom something and she got all excited and jumpy. She said your dad was out on an errand and wouldn’t be back until lunch. Your mom had to go back to work and I gave myself a tour of the camp. I had about an hour to kill, so it was pretty awkward. Then your dad finally came back and we sat down in the living room at their house and I asked if I could marry his daughter. He asked, “Does she want to marry you?” I said that I thought so. He said that I had a good reputation, so it would be fine with him. I got the cooler full of beef that I brought for them and your dad said I should have started out with the beef and then asked for his daughter’s hand in marriage. Then there would have been no hesitation.

[Insert detail from Alysun: My sister’s boyfriend brought out a set of plastic toy cows when he asked my dad to marry my sister 3 years earlier. My dad was pretty confused, but then realized Paul was bartering for his daughter. I told Jeff this story, so he thought if plastic cows did the trick with daughter #1, then real beef would be even better for daughter #2]

I ended up eating lunch in the dining hall with all of your family and your uncle said, “Well, he came back for lunch, so he must have got the answer he wanted.”
I high-tailed it out of there after lunch. On the way home I stopped at the jewelry store and found a ring I liked and ordered it, but it wouldn’t be ready until Saturday, the day we were leaving. I thought I would have to lie to you that night when I saw you, but when you asked about my day, I just told you I fed cows and did some other stuff. Lucky for me you still thought feeding cows took all day.

Did everything go as planned? Did I react how you thought I would? 

You didn’t want me to wear my coat when we got the Mt. Rainier. I didn’t know why. Now I know it was because you thought it was ugly, but I paid $150 for that coat and I liked it. I still like it. The ring was in the pocket, so I wore it any way. Then your first reaction scared me. You just stared at me and didn’t say anything. Actually, I don’t remember if you ever said yes. Did you say yes?

Yes, I said yes. I kissed you and hugged you and was thrilled beyond compare. But you have to realize my socks were shocked right off. You orchestrated a good surprise. And we had been dating for only 2 months. I wasn’t prepared. I would have been prepared for a Christmas proposal. I don’t remember what you said when you were down on one knee. I was too wowed by the lighted ring box and the diamonds sparkling at me. Do you remember what you said?

I know it was pretty great. Very romantic. Probably something I heard on Dobson. Too bad you don’t remember it.

Thank you. This was fun! We should do a bi-monthly interview. How about it? Honey, Sweety?

[Husband avoids conversation by reading the Capitol Press]

So, back to me. I remember the most important parts. The day he proposed to me was the happiest day of my life up to that point (my wedding day and the births of my children clamor for first place now, but I’m not assigning a spot to just one). I was so young and so completely in love. I remember the total shock I felt when I turned and saw him down on one knee. I loved the surprise. I still love his surprises because it shows so much time and effort on his part. The coolest part of the proposal was the lighted ring box! Oh, the ring box. I’ll never get over seeing that 3 diamond ring shining so brightly as he held it up for me to keep forever. Sigh. Those are really happy memories.

Up next in the story, when I get around to writing it, is about our first fight. Boy, was it a doozy! There was ring throwing and phone slamming. Ironically, the fight closely relates to our nation’s current economic crisis (does that wet your appetite? It kinda made me want to eat a bag a Cheetos and a tub of Ben and Jerry’s).