I was standing in my bedroom, packing my bags, getting ready to head to PA to visit Brian on my week off. We had looked at rings in December and talked of marriage time and again, and specifically, spoke of marriage that summer. The weeks and months were going by, and my boyfriend had little time left to propose if he wanted to leave us enough time to plan a wedding by summer's end. To be honest, I was a bit tired of waiting, because I knew we were going to get married, and I was weary of just being "boyfriend and girlfriend". I had thought to be engaged by then already, and by the time Spring Break rolled around, I knew that this was the moment. If we had a week to spend together, surely he would propose then. As I half jokingly, half seriously said to my mom, "I'm coming back from Spring Break either engaged or single!"
In the midst of my small bedroom, with clothes all around me as I planned out my outfits for a week, I heard a saxophone playing outside my window. Completely startled, I looked up and saw my Brian. He got me good! He had called me just a couple of hours before to tell me he was on his way to his evening job, but he was really coming down to see me! I fumbled with the window, which is very hard to open, and he asked me if I heard what song he was playing. I had to admit I hadn't... I was too surprised and jittery! He played a few bars again, and it was our song "Bless the Broken Road". I told him to come around to the door so I could let him in, which he did, and then he told my mom and he'd be taking me for a drive.
Well, obviously, this was the time at last, and we walked to his car, which he parked on another street so I wouldn't have seen him pull up. He drove to the parking lot in the community where I lived, and I guessed by that time that we'd be walking to our favorite bench where we had had several important talks and earnest prayers. I hadn't grabbed a jacket before we left, and it was a bit chilly, so Brian made short work of the big moment, dropped to one knee, and pulled out a ring that was made just for me.
What a wonderful surprise engagement, because even though I knew Spring Break would bring the glad tidings, I didn't know he'd come down to meet me before I'd be looking for it. It was wonderful to spend Spring Break engaged from the very beginning, and he saved me the drive by taking me back with him and returning me a week later. I loved that week, because the majority of people in my world didn't know I was engaged since I was away, and it was a beautiful, sweet secret for the time, just a knowledge that only ourselves and a few people in our lives knew.
Here's a picture of us on that day, one year ago today.
