Topic #2 - Getting Engaged

There are a few critical moments in life people tend to file away in the Permanent Polaroid Album of their mind.  Getting engaged is often one of them, whether the story of how it came to pass is funny, dramatic, complicated or casual.  I’ve known I wanted to marry Uno for quite a while, and it was something we’d talked about often.  I absolutely adore surprises, something Uno knows well, but I also adore making life-defining decisions by engaging in thoughtful, compassionate conversation with my intended.  I’m a control-freak with a spontaneous streak.  In this particular situation, I believe I got the best of both worlds.

            When talking to Uno about getting engaged, he often asked me what kind of proposal I wanted.  The only genuine request I remember making is that the proposal come from the heart.  Usually, I just teased him about trying to get me to plan the proposal for him.  I got a taste of my own medicine when Uno started threatening to propose while I was brushing my teeth so he could catch me at my most natural.  This is all to say that I was expecting a proposal, but I had no idea when or how it would happen.

            August 4, 2013 was an incredible day.  It was a Sunday.  I had been working most of the previous day and was really looking forward to spending some time with Uno.  A few days beforehand, we had made plans to go hiking at Natural Bridge State Park.  We crossed our fingers and hoped for good weather and we weren’t disappointed.  75 degrees, not a cloud in the sky, light breeze.  A day that inspires poetry and country songs about dirt roads and feet on dashboards.  After packing our daypacks, we drove to the state park and set off.  We spent the first few hours of the day climbing up to the bridge and exploring the landmark itself.  I had never been there before (though I had been wanting to go since I moved to the area) and I was relishing the opportunity to get some dirt on my hiking boots and sun on my face.  We wandered, took pictures, and enjoyed the spectacular view from the top of the Natural Bridge.  The trail to the bridge carries on past the actual bridge, along the edge of a cliff line.  After sitting at the bridge for a bit, I asked Uno if he was ready to press on.  He said he wanted to stay a while.  I didn’t think much of his response at first.  I wanted to soak in the day as well.  But when I asked again a few minutes later, he said he still wanted to linger.  I wondered what he was waiting for.  But soon enough, we did indeed press on, and after walking along the cliffs for another mile or so, we came to another scenic overlook, ever-so-appropriately named “Lover’s Leap.”

            At Lover’s Leap, we shared a picnic of peanut butter sandwiches, fruit, nuts and baby carrots.  We dangled our legs over the cliff’s edge.  We talked about school and work, movies we wanted to see and trips we wanted to take.  We tried to see who could throw their orange peel farthest.  We laughed.  We lost all track of time.  When I finally asked if it was time to hike back down the mountain, Uno said there was something he wanted to talk to me about first.  I immediately wondered if there was a reason besides the pleasure of my company that he had been lollygagging all day.  He reached for my hand and tied a white cloth ribbon around my wrist.  He told me he loved me and that he never wanted to be apart.  He spoke from the heart.  He asked me to be his wife.  And so, on a Sunday in August, surrounded by the absolute glory of God’s wilderness creation, without hesitation, I flung myself off of “Lover’s Leap” and said Yes.   He told me I could untie the ribbon on my wrist, and when I did, I discovered the incredible ring he had picked out for me, all on his own.  Everything about the moment was exactly right.  Uno will probably say that he didn’t plan it at all.  That he just went for it when the Spirit moved him.  While I’m unconvinced that that day happened purely on a whim, I am absolutely sure that very little in my life has felt so spectacularly natural. 

            From the proposal spot, we video-chatted with my family and made a video to send to his.  Sharing a bit of that moment with our loved ones made it even more special.  We hiked down the mountain grinning from ear to ear, holding hands even though the trail was often narrow and clearly not made to accommodate side-by-side walking.  It was a moment I will treasure for the rest of my life, and now I can't help but be reminded of how blessed I am to have walked out of a State Park with not only the best rock, but the best man in the whole place.  

Lovebirds at Lover's Leap