So one day I decided to get engaged.
It took a lot of thinking. A lot of soul searching. But ultimately it really came down to me and what I wanted. And what she wanted. And what I thought would be best for us.
I wanted to ask the girl I was dating if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me as my wife.
That’s a big proposition right there. But in the back of my head, after spending so much time with my girlfriend, I decided that I wanted to be with her. But so many questions came to mind. Would she say “yes”? Was she ready to make the commitment? How would our lives play out if she said “yes”? Or “no”?
I initially asked my family a month before our annual vacation for their advice. They said, “Do what makes you happy. You’re the only one who can really know if she’s the one.”
And it was as simple as that. As a man that knows what he wants, I started the entire process of getting engaged. I invited my girlfriend to our vacation. I started searching for rings and read up on diamond styles, settings, colors, carat–you name it, I covered it. I watched countless YouTube videos on so-called “great proposals” to get some ideas. And then came the planning.
When would I do it? Which part of the vacation would I propose and where? I remember getting stressed out on determining the exact detail on how things would go. Because that’s me: a perfectionist. I plan everything to the last detail. If something doesn’t go exactly as planned I get flustered, but of course, planning an engagement is something that really should be planned. It is the ONE time in your life that you can do it (assuming that you will stick with that person for life). And your partner will remember that moment for the rest of his or her life. And the story of how you got engaged will be told for the rest of your married lives. You don’t want a story where things were done awkwardly or haphazardly. You would never live it down. So if anything, planning your engagement is a must. And I believe that it shows a certain amount of respect for the person you intend to marry. I mean, if you don’t care so much about how you propose to that significant person in your life, how will they believe you will value their presence after you get married?
I remember the feeling back then. When it happened. How surreal it was, to actually be there, popping the question. On a glacier. In the middle of a dog mushing camp. In Alaska.
What’s more was the feeling I got when I proceeded to get down on one knee and actually “start” to ask the question.
My voice trembled. Tears that I didn’t expect started to form in my eyes. Then I asked the question.
I can’t really explained what happened next. My girl looked at me with wide eyes and started crying. And I started crying too. There just seemed to much emotion wound up between us to really mutter anything coherent at the time. But then it came:
“Yes, Jon. Yes!”
And then I remember the surging of feeling I got that seemed to start from my toes and coursed throughout my entire body. This overwhelming feeling of happiness and relief came over me. Then I carefully took the ring out of the box and put it around her ring finger. And then we hugged.
Now this was in the middle of a dog mushing camp on top of a glacier in Alaska. My family wasn’t the only one present at the time. There were others. My family noted later on that many of them had taken pictures of us while I was proposing. “That’s so funny,” I thought. But then again, expressing your love to the person you want to spend the rest of your life with is something that should be captured. If things go well, you’ll want to keep those memories with you all the time.
After that I remember the congratulations from the family. The candlelit dinner. The kisses, the hugs, the warmth.
I’ll tell you one thing. I’ll never forget that for the rest of my life.
If you are as lucky as me, I really do hope that you find someone you can love and share your life with. It really is one of the best feelings in the world.
Oh, and if you want to go and see what it looked like during my proposal, I have shared it with you above. (It’s kind of loud so you can’t hear what we’re saying, but it’s probably better that way. What we said to each other will always just be between the two of us lovebirds. ^^)
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