It's All Good Until You Burn Dinner

Posts Tagged ‘ring’

February is the month of love, right? And in a few short days, stories of dreamy Valentine’s Day engagements will be splattered across Google, Yahoo, and Bing. You know…those lovey-dovey, romantic stories filled with surprise and bliss. We’ll hear about engagement rings being stashed in gourmet cupcakes, mid-air proposals on hot air balloons, and the “Will you marry me, Suzie?” displayed in bold flashing letters on the Jumbotron at next week’s big game.

My engagement story is filled with wonder and surprise, too. Lo so many years ago, my husband and I had been dating for over a year when things started becoming serious. We’d talked about getting engaged and for some reason when we did, Ron thought it was really hilarious to utter the words, “Will you…mmmmmmarshmallow?” Never, “Will you marry me?” Always the side-splitting, knee slapping comedy act with the ”marshmallow” thing. And of course, you can only imagine my jolly laughter every time he did this…

One weekend, just for fun we decided to go out and look at engagement rings. For some reason, I had my heart set on a marquis diamond, probably because everyone else I knew that had gotten engaged had chosen the standard round solitaire ring. We landed in a jewelry store and I began admiring a pretty marquis surrounded by some other little diamondy things (I don’t know jewelry jargon so bear with me here).

We looked and I “oohed” and “aahhhed” but we left the store empty-handed. No biggy. Valentine’s Day was two weeks away and I had an inkling that I’d be getting a little black velveteen box for the occasion.

The week rolled on and the following Saturday afternoon (the week before Valentine’s Day) Ron and I were trying to decide how to spend the day. Being the shy person I am, I said, “Let’s go back and look at that ring!” So, we hopped into the car and headed off to the store.

As we were driving down the highway, Ron pulled a little black box out of his pocket and handed it to me. I looked at it and fully expected to hear, “Will you mmmmmmmarshmallow?” but instead he said the actual words, “Will you marry me?”

Before I could say yes, I was thinking, “You gotta be kidding me. This is the best you could do? You asked me to marry you as we’re driving down the highway on the way to the mall? This is the story of romance and excitement I’ll be sharing with my children … and their children… for generations to come?”

Well, in case you didn’t figure it out, I did say yes. But (again, being the shy person I am) I let him know I was ticked off and forced him reenact the proposal that evening after a lovely dinner down by the river.

And just to give him the benefit of the doubt, his explanation for the car proposal was that he was afraid to see my reaction if we walked into the jewelry store and the ring I had admired the week before was gone (I understood what he was saying. I’ve been known to punch in walls, kick down doors, and throw priceless vases when I’m angry). Or that the sales people there would recognize him and say, “Soo…how’s that engagement thing working out for you?” despite him not having asked me yet.

Anyway, we’re still married and there have been some quirks and awkward situations along the way but we just nod, roll our eyes, accept the bungle, and plod ahead. And honestly, it was a proposal like no other I’ve ever heard of and will most likely not be imitated. Now, are you jealous?

Do you have a romantic…or not so romantic engagement story? Please share!

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