The Proposal: Katie's Version

Okay everybody, you've asked for it, so here it is: the story of my engagement. David and I had been talking for a little while about how we want to get married, and we had both informed our parents of this fact, so the time was drawing near. My two weeks in Nicaragua on a mission trip provided the perfect opportunity for some sneakiness on the part of my fiancee. I knew that he was meaning to go see my parents while I was gone and "ask them if he could ask me," and I also had some idea of what type of ring he might get, because he had asked me to go ahead with Leslie and scout out what type I might like so she could show him later. So when I returned from out the country I knew these things had happened, but I had no idea when he would actually propose or where, or which ring he had chosen.

So on Father's Day, June 17, we had been in Birmingham all weekend with his family (who all knew what was about to happen, by the way), and were heading over to Berry to meet my parents. They were dropping off Tucker at camp there, and so we were ostensibly going over so I could have dinner with my dad on Father's Day. However, I thought it was a little odd that they knew we were getting in to Berry at 6:00, but didn't want to have dinner with us until 7:30. Then, when we arrived in Rome and stopped at Walgreen's to get my Dad a Father's Day card, we encountered them there!!

I figured then that they would just say, "Well, why don't we just do dinner now?" but they didn't, they just said they would see us later, which got me even more suspicious. David had said he wanted to take me to the Oak Hill Gardens, but when I saw we were going to get there after the gates were closed for the day, I told him we wouldn't make it. He said that was okay, we would just go to Frost Chapel instead. When we got to Frost he wanted to go inside, but all of the doors were locked! Foiled again! He said then he was disappointed because he had written me a sonnet that was meant to be recited in the Oak Hill Gardens, but that he guessed he would just have to do it outside Frost Chapel. I then said maybe he could wait and do it at Oak Hill next weekend when we come for Eliza's wedding, but he said, "No, I think I want to do it now!" So we sit down on a low wall next to Frost, and I was trying to tell myself I wasn't going to get engaged right then, because I didn't want to get my hopes up! He told me to imagine that I was in the Oak Hill Gardens. I obligingly closed my eyes (which ended up helping him out, because he could rummage in his pocket for the ring without me seeing) and tried to imagine it. He began to recite the absolutely beautiful sonnet he had written for me, and as he continued I heard him moving around, so when he was at the last few lines I opened my eyes. He was no longer sitting next to me, but was down on one knee in front of me!!

Incredibly, your favorite cold-hearted girl began to cry! The last two lines of the sonnet asked the best question of all, and David held out the ring to me. Well, I snatched him up to kiss him, and he said, "So I guess that's a yes?" And then I said, "Absolutely yes!!" and kissed him some more and cried some more. I was exclaiming over how perfect the proposal was when he gave me an even bigger surprise! A while back, before my trip, when we first started talking about getting married, I had called Berry and asked if Frost Chapel was available next May. The lady told me we could put ourselves on the waiting list for some dates, but that it was basically a lost cause, because we would be like fifth down on every date. But I had her put us down for May 17, 24, and 30 just in case. She had said she would only contact me if she had positive news, so when I didn't hear from her, I assumed it was a done deal, and started considering getting married in my parents' church in McDonough on May 24 or 30. Anyway, fast forward back to proposal night. So after proposing to me, David then says, "Oh, but babe, I'm really sorry, but we aren't going to be able to get married on May 24 or 30 like you wanted." "But why?" I asked worriedly. "Because May 17th is the only day Frost is available!" he said. At which point I screamed, and flailed my arms and legs around some, and generally got ridiculous for a few minutes. Apparently, while I was out of the country, I had gotten a letter saying we had gotten Frost for that day, and David got it, because he was picking up my mail. He, along with my family, decided to keep it a secret from me until proposal time. It was such a huge surprise, and they were all so sneaky!!

So that's my story guys, and if anybody wants even more details (what we were wearing, or crazy stuff like that), give me a call! We will post more pictures of the ring online very soon! (And we did.--Ed.)

To sum up, I have the most wonderful fiancee in the entire world, and I cannot wait to be his wife!