Well okay.I asked her and then she started crying and threw up..but then again she has been vomiting non stop the last week. she said yes but still seeing her puke after I asked her hand in marriage has made me paraniod!
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This gave me a smile and a warm memory.
Back when my bride and I were courting I was traveling 70 miles one way to see her. She was a single mother, of course, and when we dated we would take Aubree with us nearly every time, even though she was only 5 at the time.
On the big night when I went to propose I was prepared with a ring for both of them.
But, as these things go, not everything went to plan. On the long drive out there I got a flat tire. My car was new at the time and the tire was one of those little half-tire spares that are completely worthless. It was hard bolted to the frame of the car and I had to use all my Superman strength in the world just to get it out of the trunk.
I finally got it out but was pretty ticked off at the same time because it made me all hot and sweaty and I didn't want to propose smelling less than like a rose, you know? To make matters worse I had to get down on my knees to change the tire and didn't have anything to protect my clothes. It was a little car and I should have been able to change the tire in like 5 minutes but again the lug nuts on the thing were put on with a hyperactive robot or something and I spent 30 minutes just trying to get the stupid things off. I was hot, sweaty, dirty, cussing and just about fed up when I wrenched at the last lug nut to loosen it when I felt a tear and heard a pop in my back. I knew it was bad, having thrown out my back before.
But I had jewelry on me and two gorgeous girls waiting for me so I pressed on. I drove the last 20 miles in severe pain and stopped only long enough at a gas station to try to clean up. By the time I got to her place I was out of my head and doing everything I could to keep myself under control. We got back in the car and headed to a local park where Aubree loved to play and that was where I planned to pop the question -- to both of them.
First was Aubree. I had to squat because my back WAS KILLING ME and I presented her the ring, told her I loved her and wanted to be her Daddy. I asked her if that was ok. She had been calling me Daddy for some time already and the whole thing to her five year old mind seemed a little silly I guess because she looked down at the ring and said "Sure. That would be ok." And off she went to the swing.
By then, of course, Sandy knew it was her turn and I was determined not to let her down. But I was in such pain that the one knee thing just didn't seem possible so I ended up on BOTH KNEES, asking her to marry me. She laughed and then cried and said yes but stopped as she tried to hug me when and THEN she noticed I was shaking. Not from fear but from the fire in my back.
So I told her the whole story and she burst out laughing, got a case of the giggles so bad she could hardly get me up. She ended up calling her father -- and this is so embarrasing -- who took me into the emergency room.
There I was asked how I injured myself but I was in such pain I couldn't answer. So my future father-in-law said I did it proposing to his daughter and the entire emergency room stopped to hear the story. They thought for sure that Sandy had said no and karate chopped me or something. But when I told them all the real story they thought it was so funny and charming that they gathered together some money and bought us a gift certificate to a local bed and breakfast.
It is, of course, a fun story to tell these days but I can't tell you what work proposing can be,
Congrats, Neal, on your engagement and even more on a great story to share with your family for years to come. Trust me, your kids are going to love it.
Jeff
