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The Magical
Proposal
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November
17, 2019
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After the
encephalitis, which I will henceforth refer to as
Evil E, I was in inpatient rehab for several
weeks. I had planned to try to go back to work,
right away, but as my release date drew closer, I
began to realize that my job probably wasn't
waiting for me.1
Drew and I talked about what we'd do about my
health insurance. He sort of hinted that we could
get me on his health benefits. š
I knew he was suggesting marriage, but as much as
I already knew I wanted to be his wife, this
wasn't what I'd envisioned. I told him, "I don't
want that to be why."
He assured me that that wasn't the only reason,
and I knew it wasn't, but still... I coyly told
him that I expected a formal proposal.
We've never really discussed it again, since.
Skip ahead to several months ago when I realized
that Adina would be turning 40 this year. I told
Drew that I wanted to do something special for
hers because she had thrown a surprise party for
my 40th, and it was wonderful. Since she and Drew
have the same birthday, he suggested that we
invite her along on our trip to Orlando. All three
of us are Disney freaks and Harry Potter geeks.
Honestly, I was reluctant to ask her, because the
break in our living together as a family (mine and
Adinaās) came after an ugly trip to Disneyland
with my last and only other fiancƩ since my first
marriage ended more than twenty years ago. She
hadn't yet met Drew, other than via video-chat, so
I didn't know how she'd feel about it. I was
thrilled when she seemed excited about it. The
planning commenced.
In September or August, Drew's brother, Kevin,
sent me a message that he was going to fly out to
Orlando on Drew's birthday to surprise him. He
hadn't said much about it since then, so I hadn't
said anything to Adina about it.
On the 13th, Kevin sent me a message asking what
hotel we were staying in. He was going to be
flying in the next night! I panicked. I thought
heād be flying in on Saturday, Drewās and Adinaās
birthday, if he came at all, so I thought heād be
meeting us in the park to surprise Drew. Now I had
to figure out how to either be there when Kevin
arrived or have a key waiting at the desk for him
all without Drew finding out. I was also going to
have to find a way to let Adina know about the
change in plans and that sheād be sharing a hotel
room with two men she didnāt know!
The anxiety got overwhelming, so I told Drew about
the surprise. I felt horrible ruining it, but I
had too much anxiety to try to work it out. He was
excited that Kevin was coming. I made him promise
that heād act surprised.
The next morning, Kevin sent Drew a text that he
had upgraded to first class. I thought, āThat
doofus is going to ruin his own surprise!ā I
managed to have a rollaway brought to the room and
a key at the desk for Kevin, and I started feeling
like a jerk for having told Drew that he was
coming.
I called Adina while she was on the way to the
airport. The surprise addition caused her a little
bit of anxiety, so I was sitting on the balcony
apologizing for not telling her sooner and assured
her that it would be fine. Kevin is a great guy ā
a big goofy teddy bear.
After the surprise wore off, she assured me that
sheād be okay, and weād have fun.
After I got off the phone, I went back into the
room to find Drew getting out of bed. He had some
tension in his voice and asked me why I felt I had
to apologize to Adina because his brother was
coming. I explained the situation and assured him
that Adina is the best adventure partner one could
hope for. Sheās always open to suggestions and
sheās flexible. I promised him there would be no
drama, but now I had more anxiety. I was worried
that heād harbor some resentment or even caution,
and that Adina might pick up on it and be
uncomfortable.
Everyone arrived, everyone met and talked and fun
was had. The next morning, Adina and I went to the
park by ourselves. Drew and Kevin were both
feeling pretty bad. We had fun, though. We rode
the things we wanted to ride and saw the things we
wanted to see. That night we all went over to BJās
for dinner.
And the next day was November 16, the birthday of
my two soulmates and the 34th anniversary of my
parents. I spent that morning writing about how
important the day is to me.
Drew had told me months ago that he wanted the
birthday to be special for Adina, so he wanted to
be in Diagon Alley on their birthday. I was just
so thrilled that he wanted to make it special for
her that I didnāt think about what ulterior
motives he might have.
I must admit that the thought had occurred to me
that if he had wanted to, this would have been the
perfect opportunity to propose. So, when he pulled
me to the side and Adina stepped away to give us
some privacy, he called her back over. I thought,
āIs this happening?ā
Then he told me that he had a confession to make.
This had all been a setup. He had asked Kevin to
fly out so that he could record the proposal. He
wanted it to be there, in Diagon AlleyĀ² with his
brother and one of my best friends to witness.
Then he got on his knee and pulled out that ring.Ā³
<pausing for nose-blowing and tear-dabbing>
You canāt hear it in the video, but I think thatās
a pretty good recollection of the moment. You can,
of course, hear my teacher-voice declaring, āI
thought youād never ask!ā
Magical is the only word I can use to describe it.
We have a tentative date of May 29, 2021, and a
tentative location of Tahoe.
What did I ever do to deserve this man?
1.
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I hold no ill will regarding
that. Keith was so good to me, but he had
a business to run and other people
depending on him. He had to get his bills
paid and his people needed paychecks. He
had to replace me. It also became apparent
very quickly, that I would not have been
able to return to full time work, anyway.
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2.
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On our very first date, when he
told me he loved Harry Potter, I jokingly
said, āmarry me!ā |
3.
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The Great Story about the Ring:
Apparently, Drew ordered my ring back in
August. When we had briefly discussed
marriage, I made it clear to him that I
donāt want diamonds. So he looked until he
found something sparkly that had no
diamonds, and it being made in Italy, he
knew it would be extra special because I
talk so often about my travels there.
In order to surprise me, he had the ring
shipped to a store in Smithfield, the next
town over. Since I donāt work and he works
from home, it was some time before he
could get over there to get the ring.
Imagine his disgust when he found out that
they had already sent it back!
He went round and round with them for some
time before it was all worked out. Though
heād ordered it in August, it did not
arrive until the Thursday before we left
for Orlando! I asked him what heād have
done if it hadnāt come. He said heād have
found something temporary. Iām glad he
didnāt have to do that, because even if it
had been a twist tie from a loaf of bread,
Iād have kept it forever. |
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