Our Story, part 3

That didn't count as a marriage proposal.

But we did talk about getting married. To eachother.

The next night, after dinner, we looked at rings at the mall.

I still wasn't ready to make the marriage decision yet. I was battling a lot of fears and self-esteem issues. Namely, what if Eric is really a psychopath serial killer and that's why he wants to marry me?? He tried to tell me he wasn't, but wouldn't they all say that?

We decided to fast and pray together. The day that I fasted I had the biggest feeling of peace and reassurance that this was the right decision for us to be married. Every other day during our engagement I may have worried and felt scared, but that day I knew it was right. I relied on that answer to my prayer.

My parents and I met Eric at Anzio's Landing one evening. This was the night that Eric was going to ask my dad for permission to marry me. We got to the restaurant before Eric did and sat down at our table. All of the napkins were folded on top of the table. They looked like crowns. My dad remarked that if Eric was really a good guy and worth anything then when he got here he would be very tempted to put the napkin on his head. What's the first thing Eric did when he arrived and sat down at our table? He pretended to put the napkin on his head. We all laughed. Eric had my dad's approval (even though E never asked my dad if he could marry me--he chickened out and decided he didn't need to get permission anyway).

On Aug. 5th, ten days after our first discussion about marriage, I was at home just starting to eat dinner when Eric called. He asked if I wanted to go out to eat. I didn't. I wanted to say no, but I told him that would be ok. He came and picked me up a few minutes later. We had decided where to go eat so I thought we were driving there, but then he turned the car down my parents street. I asked him what we were doing and he told me we hadn't done anything really fun lately so he thought we would. At my parent's house there was a bag of clothes he had bought from a thrift store. We were supposed to wear them. I put on my lunch lady/washer woman dress. He was dressed like an old man, pretty much.Then we went out to eat like that.

Halfway through our dinner, he pulled out a necklace he had made with a key attached to it. I thought it was something sweet he had just to accessorize the weird outfit he bought. I was still a bit confused. Or just trying not to get my hopes up.

We left the restaurant and he asked if I wanted to go to a park. He drove for a long time so I asked him which he park he planned on going to. He said Fountain Hills, and I got excited and a little more suspicious. As we were driving, he told me had another present for me. He pulled out a pan of heart-shaped cornbread from his backseat (so cornbread was my favorite. a big weakness of mine at this point in my life). I was feeling pretty happy and loved.

We stopped along the way to use the bathroom at Wendy's. When we got back to the car, Eric opened the door for me to climb in. I sat down. He told me he had another present for me. He pulled a jewelry box out of the backseat. It's a beautiful wooden box that he bought when he was in Brazil. The key on the necklace opened the jewelry box. Inside was a ring. A cute little ring he had also bought in Brazil. He slipped the ring on my finger, but it slipped right off. He put it onto my thumb. He climbed into the car.

To be honest, I sat there thinking that was all quite unromantic to give me a ring in the wendy's parking lot. Especially when we were just 5 min. from the fountain (of Fountain Hills). I was ok if he didn't have a real ring for me because I didn't know what I wanted, but geez he better get down on one knee if he wants me to say yes.

I was still pretty dazed, in a happy way, though. We drove on. He asked what my answer was. But he hadn't actually asked me anything yet so I had no answer to give until I got a question!

We parked the car and walked to our favorite spot to watch the Fountain go off. Eric must have been really nervous because he started talking in an Indian accent.

We sat and watched, held hands and talked. He started teasing me and took the ring back from my finger. When the fountain finished, he grabbed both of my hands and we stood up. Then he got down on one knee. It's all a blur of happiness, but he told me how much he loved me and asked me to marry him. I said yes. He put a ring on my finger. I thought it was the same ring from Brazil again, but I looked down and there was a real diamond ring!

We were officially engaged to be married in just 3 months time on Nov. 7.