He totally surprised me. I can’t believe he found a way to shock me but he did. Foreman and I had decided that it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to come down to Edmonton because I was working my normal all-day Saturday shift and an all-day Sunday shift for Grand Opening. We had talked about it. We had decided. And even though I was a little teary the weekend before it was okay. Two weeks wasn’t as far away as it seemed.
It helped that my girlfriends Kristus and PrincessGwyn had decided that since I would be alone on the weekend and they hadn’t seen me in a long time that they wanted to go out for dinner with me on Friday night and they were going to have a girls night on Saturday night so I was going to be pretty booked up and have no time to miss him. At least in theory.
So this infamous Friday arrived faster than usual amidst my hectic schedule of clinical, tutorials and labs. I realized that I had to get some stuff for work so I called PrincessGwyn to ask her where she wanted to meet for supper. She sounded a little strange on the phone and said she needed to phone Kristus to confirm plans. Meanwhile I realized that I didn’t really want to make an extra trip so it all worked out fine and we all decided that the girls would pick me up at my apartment. Since I hadn’t seen my girls in a while I wore a skirt and although I didn’t have any butane for my curling iron I tied up my hair and looked presentable for my fun night out with the girls.
Around 7 p.m. they buzzed up and as I picked up the receiver I heard mad screaming “Hellos” and “We’re here’s” coming from the familiar voices downstairs. I buzzed them up and starting getting things together. I unlocked the door and opened it so the girls could just come in. I sensed someone at the door and looked up, it was Foreman but since I always meet him at the door on Friday night it didn’t seem weird. It took me a minute to remember he wasn’t supposed to be there. When I did remember that he wasn’t supposed to be there the look on my face was supposedly priceless. Here is the conversation as follows:
Me: “What are you doing here?”
Foreman: “Do you want to go for dinner with me?”
Me: “And Kristus and PrincessGwyn?”
Foreman: “No.”
Me: “Just Kristus and PrincessGwyn?”
Foreman: “No, they’re gone. Do you want to go for dinner with me?”
Me: “Okay, you have a tie on…and a haircut…how come I can feel your heart beating through your chest?....Where are we going for dinner?...Am I properly dressed?”
Foreman: “Well since I drove for 5 hours I think I should get to decide what you wear.”
Me: “Okay what should I wear then?”
Foreman: “That
At this point he took this little black box out of his pocket, he got down on one knee right in the front hall and said “Why don’t you wear this tonight, and maybe a little bit longer than tonight…Will you marry me?” There it was, this moment. I was standing there with this man I love so completely kneeling at my feet. I looked down at this beautiful man staring up at me with his bright blue-green eyes and a smile that ran from ear to ear. I remembered all the moments we’d spent together in the past year and a half: our first date where we talked about superconductors, pretending we were an ambulance for my little brother, soccer games, watching ElimiDate together, camping, going to Camp Valaqua, paddling, portaging, plane trips, train trips, safari, visiting Malawi, weddings, concerts, friends and parties. Countless moments I had spent with him that had brought into my life so much more joy than I ever thought possible and I knew it was just going to get better because it always did. I looked done at a future that I knew would continue to be as amazing as the past year and a half had been with a man that makes me smile every time I think about him.
Finally it got to the point where I realized I was in that part of the movie where I always yell at the screen “Say yes, you haven’t said yes yet!” So I said yes. And we hugged and kissed but mostly just held each other and realized that we had just committed our lives to each other. The “party” (that’s the pet name we have for our wedding) is just a formality and a time where our friends and family get to get together and have a good time. From that moment on I chose him and he chose me and we turned the page and began a brand new chapter in our adventure together…