It’s true. I already fell for him. Here we were a day away from our three month anniversary of our first date… (If you didn’t read the story from the beginning, you can do so here) It had only been a few days since I had seen Kevin. A few days since I got the sweetest email. He wanted to let me know I was on his mind.
Sweet Notes Like This Were Why I Fell For Him
He said “Sometimes when I don’t speak what I feel… It is because either I don’t know how to express my love for you fully, and other times I think I am dreaming. I’m still dumbfounded that we have fallen in love so fast. I don’t feel right when I am away from you. I know how happy I am with you and compare it to being without you… And baby, the bad day with you is better than a good day without you.” Before this, I thought lines like that were only in movies. That girls didn’t get to hear these things in real life. But I was living it. And I couldn’t have been happier!
We had given each other quite a few cards up to this point. He said that he left a card for me for our anniversary. That night on the phone, I tried to get him to tell me where it was. I just wanted a clue. But he was Fort Knox. Not only would he not tell me where it was, but he said he couldn’t even talk that night. He said he was tired. We had talked every single night for almost three months straight. I said he should talk anyway but he was insistent. I cried because even for one night, I knew I would miss him. He had his reasons for not wanting to talk that night, but no matter what he said, I just couldn’t understand.
How He Tried to Throw Me Off
Poor thing. I don’t know how he put up with me. But I’m glad he did. He said he was too tired to talk, but he still found time to practice on his guitar…. Well I may not have talked to him much that night, but the next morning, I started early with the barrage of questions. Happy Anniversary! Did you get enough sleep? Where’s my card? What do you mean that it’s not time to find it yet? It’s my anniversary and you said you hid my card…where is it?
Looking back, I must have seemed very much like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. “Daddy, I want an Oompa Loompa! I want it now!” Or Paul Blart. “Now, ma! You mentioned the pie and now I want it!” Patience has never been my strong suit. You’ve probably figured that out if you’ve been following along since the beginning (or if you know me personally).
Well, Kevin knew how to deal with me. I always said it would take a strong man to tell me what to do. And he was up to the task. He said “Sometimes I don’t get mail til almost 3:00 so if my card is in the mail, you can wait until later to get your card.” Even though I loved this man with all my heart, at this point I had gotten upset. He didn’t want to talk to me the night before. Now he wouldn’t let me have my card. I had gotten so spoiled by everything he had done for me, I wasn’t used to this. I spent the morning complaining to my friends about how rude he was being to me. They kept reassuring me that he loved me and he must have his reasons for how he was acting.
Finally, Another Card!
Finally, my friends said that while I was at a house in the ministry, Kevin had let them know where the card was. I knew he had left it somewhere, but where? They said it was at my favorite spot in Bradford. So I said “Drive to the reservoir.” I had showed him that place when he came to see me the week before. I always thought it was so peaceful and beautiful. If I ever got married, this was where I wanted my wedding photos. So we drove out to Marilla Reservoir. I walked up to the bridge and saw a card stuck to the bridge. My card! I had found it at last!
Problem was, he had told me that he didn’t want me to open the card when I found it til I was on the phone with him. He wanted to hear my reaction to what the card said. But Marilla was halfway to the middle of nowhere. So my phone would not connect. I almost started crying. My aunt tried to come to the rescue with her phone. But I couldn’t get signal on that either. Everyone told me there was nothing that could be done and just to open the card. I didn’t want to disappoint him, but I really wanted to read my card also. So I opened the envelope.
The Beginning of the Proposal
My favorite color! And the words inside were even more beautiful. As I started to read them, I heard guitar music playing softly behind me. I thought “Awwww, how sweet! He recorded some music for me to really enjoy the experience!” (It takes me awhile to catch on sometimes when things should be REALLY obvious.) I turned around in the direction of the music and there stood Kevin with his guitar. What?! I had just seen him a week ago and we were going to meet in Houston to fly to Mexico in just three days. What was he doing here?! He asked if I wanted to take a walk around the lake, just the two of us.
When we get on the other side of the lake, he played me the song “From Here to Eternity” by Michael Peterson. He knew how much I loved that song. He’d never played it before and learned it just for this occasion. He changed the words “I saved a year for this ring” to “Just two days I’ve had this ring, I can’t wait to see how it looks on your hand.” When he was done singing the song, he got down on one knee and asked if he could make me happy for the rest of my life.
The Moment I Literally Fell For Him
Of course! I couldn’t imagine my life without him by my side! Writing this story, tears come to my eyes. Crying is just a part of who I am. I get that from my mother. Emotions for days. We care very deeply. But here’s the kicker….I didn’t cry at the proposal. Yep, no joke. Not one tear. Why? No idea. Maybe I was just still in shock that he was here. Or it’s because I already knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. Maybe it’s because I didn’t wait for him to hand me the ring but I took it out of the box myself (see what I mean about patience?) It’s one of those moments in my life that didn’t play out how I thought. But I wouldn’t change it for anything. Even what happened next.
We were both so happy at this point, together, officially engaged. His plan had worked. He had completely surprised me. We walked hand in hand on the trail. There were bare roots sticking out. Some we had to climb over and some formed little steps. I was looking into his eyes and wasn’t watching my steps. Clumsy me. One false step and I was down. Kevin should have tried to catch me, but all he did was say “Ohhh baby baby baby” as I went down. It was almost like slow motion… I didn’t get hurt. We both broke out in hysterics. What a story! He said “Well, now I can really say that you fell for me.” Yep, I fell for him alright. Always one to make me feel better with some humor.
How He Almost Didn’t Pull It Off
After I fell for him, we walked back to our families who were hiding in the trees so they could try to photograph from afar. Then I got the rest of the story. Kevin had been so short with me the night before and that morning because he was driving up. He said I would’ve asked too many questions if I heard road noise. Yep, that’s me. So he just had to not talk so he wouldn’t spoil the surprise. And then after he told my friends he was in place and ready, he realized he left the card in the car. He had to run back and get it. But he made it to the car, to pin the card to the bridge and then hid before I got there. That was close!
He had been in cahoots with my friends for a couple weeks. They all knew what was coming that day. They were so good to not give anything away. Kevin said he didn’t wait til Mexico because he says I would’ve said “ooooh, this is romantic. This would be a good place to propose.” He still won’t believe me to this day that I wouldn’t have said that. But maybe he knows me better than I know myself. Anyway, I was so much happier with this proposal than on a beach in Acapulco. That would have been cliche. This was an original proposal. It was “us”. And I love “us”.
After I Fell For Him
I’m grateful to my mom, his mom, and our friends that did all they could to make this such a memorable day. Even though we were already committed to each other, I now had a symbol that would tell everyone else that I was his. A diamond from my grandma’s engagement ring, a diamond he had gotten from his grandmother, and one he picked out himself. It was perfect! Flawless, no. But perfect for me. Just like he was. And still is. No wonder I fell for him, right?
That’s it for the story of our proposal and how I literally fell for him. Next stop Mexico….
Thank you for going on this journey with us. It has been so fun to relive all of this and to read all of our cards and notes we have written to each other. Sometimes we remember things differently than they actually happened. That’s why it’s so good to write things down and to take photos. Our memories fail us sometimes, but these things can bring them right back like they happened yesterday. Maybe this will encourage you to write down not only the big moments in life, but even the smaller ones. How do we know which moments will actually become turning points in our lives?
Have a great week! Remember to tell the people you love how much they mean to you, whether that’s parents, children, best friends, or the love of your life. (Read the next part here)
Love, Reneé (and Kevin)
