Diaries I Read:
Two years ago today, B proposed to me.
I knew exactly what was happening.
See, about six months earlier, he had come back from a visit home in Texas with a painting of a tree. He was really excited about this painting, really anxious to show it to me.
I was like, �Nice tree.�
But then he explained to me that this was the very special Century Tree on the Texas A&M campus. And it is under this very tree, he said, that �all Aggies� propose to their girlfriends.
Ahhhhhh. I started liking the painting of the tree much more.
B and I had started talking about marriage fairly early on in our relationship. We also had a HUGE fight about it once. Definitely the most emotional, most awful fight we�ve ever had. I was basically asking him to put his money where his mouth was and make some sort of commitment about when we�d be getting engaged and subsequently married. My take on the issue was that we both wanted to marry each other, so why not just get on with it? He felt like he was being pressured. Anyway, it was ugly, but we got past it, and I got a general feeling for the timing of our engagement.
As March approached, I knew the time was drawing close. It was pretty easy to predict when the big question would be popped since I knew WHERE it would be popped. It�s not every day that we�re on the Texas A&M campus, you know.
One day, he told me that he wanted me to fly out and meet him in Texas after he finished up a sales meeting there. �Aha!� I said, �The time has come!�
Then, one day while I was over at his house sitting with him while he worked on his computer, I noticed a yellow post-it note on his monitor. On it, he had scribbled, �Round diamond, baguettes, platinum� and the name and phone number of some jewelry store. My heart nearly exploded out of my chest.
A couple of weeks later, while hanging out in his office again, I noticed a small, square white box sitting next to his computer. �It can�t be,� I thought.
That night, B had to go to school and I stayed at his place to cook dinner. As soon as he left the house, I was upstairs in a flash to take another look at that box. I took the lid off and, sure enough, there was a velvet jewelry box inside. I couldn�t believe it! I very carefully replaced the lid and put the box back where I had found it.
I went downstairs and called my friend Lisa. �My engagement ring is upstairs in B�s office. Please tell me all the reasons why I shouldn�t look at it.� She did as she was told and somehow, by some alien strength, I resisted the urge to go back up, whip out that ring, and wear it until B got home.
The box stayed right there next to his computer for the rest of the week. I still don�t know how I did it, but I never did look inside that box. I just didn�t want to ruin it for myself, I guess.
Then it was time for me to fly out to Texas. I was going nuts! I even brought a package of Tylenol PM with me so I�d be able to sleep at night, since I hadn�t been able to for several days because of the excitement.
We met up with B�s best friend and his wife. We spent the night in Austin. B�s best friend snored the loudest I�ve ever heard all night long.
The next day, we got up and went for a run around the lake. When we got back to the hotel, the water heater was broken and we couldn�t take a shower. So we piled into the car, all sweaty, and headed to College Station, home of Texas A&M.
When we got to our next hotel, we finally got to take a shower. B told me he was going over to his buddy�s room to show him his video camera since �he�s thinking about getting one too.� Riiiiiiiiiight.
I showered and carefully chose a cute outfit (in fact, I think I was wearing the very pants I have on today! Wow!) and took some extra time with my hair and makeup. (This day was going down in history, after all.)
We were starving, and we went to get pizza for lunch. B was wearing these khaki shorts with big pockets in them � you know, the pockets that are on the outside? I knew that ring was in one of those pockets.
Then B said he wanted to show me his old dorm room. So we walked across the street to campus and filmed some areas. He showed me the door to the room that had been his. He told a story about throwing water balloons out of his window onto people below.
Then we started walking around campus. I could tell B was getting nervous. I was going nuts. I kept looking around, trying to find that darn tree. There were trees everywhere, but none of them looked like the one from the painting.
B was showing us statues and memorials and stuff and he was babbling and stuttering and making no sense. I was trying to act natural, but I don�t think I was doing a very good job. Then B passed the video camera to his buddy and I thought, �OK, it�s coming.�
We walked a little further, and then I saw it. The tree. It was a big oak tree with these giant limbs that touched the ground. There was a bench under the tree. It was quiet on campus, since it was Saturday. There was a breeze. There was a really loud bird squawking.
B asked me if the tree looked familiar, and I said yes. He said, �This is the Century Tree, where all Aggies bring their girlfriends to propose.� I think I was holding my breath at this point. �So,� he said, �sit down.�
I sat down and looked at him standing in front of me. I was shaking. B has never been one to be at a loss for words, but this time he was. He had tears in his eyes and his voice got choked up and he said something about how he loved me �to death� and how I�d been such a great �blessing� in his life. If he said anything else, I didn�t hear it, because then he was down on one knee asking me to marry him.
He opened the box with the ring in it, and I glanced at it quickly but didn�t even really look at it as he put it on my finger. I said �Of course I will� and I started hugging him. My sunglasses, which had been pushed on top of my head, fell off. B said something about the ring being too big for my finger.
At that point, B�s friends, who had been filming from a distance, joined us. They mentioned that I hadn�t actually said the word �yes,� so I said it. I looked more closely at my ring and it was absolutely perfect and beautiful and, yes, way too big for my finger.
And then the rest of the day was a whirlwind of calling my parents, meeting up with his family who had come up there to celebrate with us, going out to dinner, and basically being in a state of shock over the fact that I was actually, finally, engaged to marry the love of my life.
And we lived happily ever after.
Working at home - Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2004
Toronto - Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2004
On the way to Toronto... - Tuesday, Nov. 09, 2004
A Good Day - Monday, Nov. 08, 2004
Another letter - Thursday, Nov. 04, 2004