Real Life Romance: Part Six

Alone in the Field - October 8, 2005

To check out the first five parts of the series, click here. I don't have great pictures to go along with section because I didn't have a digital camera yet and I can't locate the CD with these photos on it. I pictures of my scrapbook but I know it isn't great.

We arrived to his parent's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family. I was unsure of the status of things at this point. If you remember, the fabulous dude had recently confessed to me that he wasn't 100% sure he wanted to marry me (at least right now). However, the weekend seemed to be going as usual. He was busy doing things around the house with is dad and I was busy helping his mom get things ready for Thanksgiving dinner. On Saturday morning he left early with his dad because they were helping a friend with some moving and so I didn't see him at all that day. Let me just say that this is not unexpected or surprising. Since we started dating, it is kind of the norm for him to be out and about with his dad and for me to be spending the time with his sisters and mom when we go to visit. That's just the way it goes.

However, as the day progressed, some strange things started happening. We had been busy getting things sorted out for Thanksgiving dinner but his mom didn't seem at all concerned with what we were going to be doing for dinner that very evening. I remember asking her a few times if there was anything she wanted me to pick up or prepare for supper and she just kept saying, "Oh we can worry about that later". This is when things got strange. You see, it is pretty standard for his family to eat at around 5:30 on the dot. So when 4:00 came around and we still hadn't even begun thinking or preparing, I started wondering what the heck was going on.

About that time, the FD rolled back into the driveway in his dad's truck. But, when he came in, his dad wasn't with him. I asked him where he was and he said he had dropped him off at the barn on his way home. This made sense, the door to the barn faces a different road than their driveway, so it would be normal for him to drop him off there instead of bringing him home and having him walk out to the barn.

He came over to me and said, "Sorry I was gone all day. Do you want to go out to the cabin and go for a walk and take some pictures of the fall leaves so we can spend some time together?"

"Sure", I said, "but maybe we should wait until tomorrow because dinner will probably be soon".

His mom interjected and said not to worry about that. They could wait and eat later or we could just grab something when we got home. That made sense to me, so I agreed. Again, he reminded me to bring my camera to take pictures out there. No big deal, I take my camera everywhere and since autumn is my favourite season, this would be no exception.

He ran upstairs to change and I noticed he was taking quite a long time. When he came back down I could smell that he was wearing cologne and had shaved. Umm, yup, that's when I knew I was getting the ring that night. This guy isn't exactly one to care too much about his appearance or hygiene. So, to clean himself up just to go for a walk in the woods must have meant something.

We headed out to the cabin and his dad was still nowhere in sight. Apparently, he was still in the barn. I don't remember what we talked about on the drive out there, but I remember as we were pulling down the lane, I spotted a large object on the side of the road.

"What in the world is that?" I said. "I think someone came back here and dumped a washing machine." I was thinking that it was quite rude for someone to do such a thing.

The fabulous dude kind of let out a chuckle and said that he wasn't sure what it was.

(You see, at this point, I was fairly confident he was going to propose but I didn't really have a clue what he was up to).

As we got closer, I could make out the shape of the "washing machine" a little bit better and realized that it was not a washing machine, but rather, his dad standing in front of a trailer instead.

"What is your dad doing here? I thought he was at the barn?"

FD just smiled.

We got out of the truck and his dad was beaming, "Hi, Luc".

Evan took my hand and walked me around to the other side of the trailer, where two Clydesdale horses were waiting. I had never been horseback riding before, and he knew it.

He helped me onto the horse and after he and his dad got over how ridiculously scared I looked, he got on his and instructed me how to get the horse to move. We rode on for a while. I was trying to admire the leaves and enjoy the views (although it was hard since I was scared for my life) and he was mocking me and telling me I looked ridiculous riding a horse.

We finally got to an open field. He asked me to stop and get off the horse to go for a walk. He tied the horses up and took my hand, leading me through a path. We got about halfway through the field and he stopped.

I don't remember exactly what he said, but he pulled the ring from his pocket and asked me to be his wife. I was so nervous, I started laughing. I don't think I ever even said yes. I just pulled out my cell phone and started to call people to tell them I was engaged.

We had to quickly ride back because it was approaching dusk and he didn't want me to have to ride in the dark. We got back, tied up the horses, took them back to their owner and headed to his parents house, where more surprises were waiting.

When we got there, his whole family was there waiting for us with an ice cream cake that had a tractor on it. Since it was Thanksgiving weekend, Dairy Queen was limited in the selection of ice cream cakes so his sister had picked this one and it said "Congratulations [FD] and [Lucy]". Everyone started hugging us and congratulating us and as I moved from the kitchen to the living room, I glanced into the dining room and saw that my parents were there! What a surprise! They were on their way to my mom's sister's for Thanksgiving and made a quick detour to join us in celebration. It was fabulous!

I could not have asked for a better proposal. There were so many aspects of it that were so significant to us. First and foremost, autumn is my absolute favourite season. FD knew how much I wanted to get married in the fall but because of school, if we were to do that, we'd need to wait quite a few more years. So he decided he'd propose to me in the fall, which was the next best thing. The cabin is his favourite place on earth and so it was special for us to be there.

Second, the horse back riding is significant not just because I had never been on a horse before but because in a letter that he wrote me early in our relationship he had written...

"When I think of a team, I think of a team of horses. They stand side by side and each has to pull its own weight or else the load cannot be carried. I want to pull the load of life with you by my side".

Somewhere in the actual proposal, he repeated something along those lines.

Also, I could not get over how much planning he had put into the whole thing. He had obviously snuck behind my back at some point to buy the ring. I'm not so easy to surprise, so this was an impressive feat. And since we had already started saving money together, he had to lie to me and tell me he was lending money to a friend ... I never even suspected it for a second. I also found out later that he had asked my parents for permission the week before. Lastly, he and his dad had gone to great lengths arranging to borrow the horses, pick them up and get everything ready for our ride.

So, the whole deal about not being sure if he wanted to marry me was all just a big hoax so that he could be off my radar and have a better chance of surprising me. And, surprise me, he did!

To be continued...

The Real Life Romance series is being linked up at MM&Ms at Musings of a Future Pastor's Wife