Nine Years Ago...

 

I love reminiscing about the day Ryan proposed. And today marks the last time that memory will ever be in the single digits. 

We intentionally took the day off work and are looking forward to celebrating together, although our plans do seem to be rapidly unraveling. (We planned to go back to the restaurant where we had lunch that day, but alas, it has permanently closed. We picked a second choice, and it's - of course! - closed on Mondays. We plan to have our annual pictures taken today, but of course there is a huge chance of rain, so that may also get canceled. But it's okay! The point is...we get to be together.)

I'm sure many of you know parts - or maybe all - of this story, but indulge me, will you?

I knew our relationship was moving toward marriage. It was one of the things I most appreciated about the way Ryan dated me. He didn't make me guess his intentions for the future. He declared them openly, and that allowed me to fully embrace the season and not spend all my time wondering.

Having said that, I had no idea he planned to propose that day. I didn't even know he had the day off work! I just knew I was driving to Fort Wayne for a regular day at the radio station. As far as I knew, he was driving to Kokomo to work in treat patients. 

I went to work that day with horribly frizzy hair, because I hadn't yet been introduced to ceramic straighteners. I didn't have a stitch of makeup on my face when I arrived, because I'd run out of time to apply makeup in the interest of continuing to fight the (losing) battle against the frizz. I also didn't have nail polish on because...well...see the aforementioned hair fight. 

When I look back from the perspective of knowledge, I see all the things my coworkers did and said to throw me off the trail of the huge surprise ahead. I should have questioned so much. Some of their lies, in hindsight, were really not all that believable. But I trusted all of them way more than I should have, so I just followed blindly. 

I polished my nails at my desk and slapped on some makeup before the show began. I took my carefully scripted show notes into the studio and began to talk (apparently far too long) about the joy of frappes.

I still remember in vivid detail scrambling in my mind to try to figure out where Lynne was going with the show when she deviated with the script after she asked me to share about my favorite memory. I did what she asked and then returned the question to her. I sat to hear her answer, but she started veering. Lynne and I had developed the closest thing to mind-reading I could imagine two on-air personalities sharing, so I usually could follow her, even if I had no idea where she was going. But not that day. I remember thinking, Stay with her. Don't allow any dead air. Just keep talking. You'll figure it out.

But before I could figure it out, the door to the studio opened - none too quietly, I might add, which is a BIG no-no for live radio. I looked up to see who could possibly be busting in past the bright "ON AIR" sign...and there was my Ryan!

I've never scrambled so fast and so hard for words. Lynne narrated the entire adventure for our listeners, and I only heard every few words. I remember saying a surprised "Hi!" to Ryan as he walked briskly to my side of the studio. When I saw his flushed face, and heard Lynne introduce him as my boyfriend (something I'd planned to talk about for the first time on the air that day), the realization hit me. He was there to propose. RIGHT THEN.

I rolled my chair to the side to make room for him to kneel beside me, and he was already down one knee. I adjusted the microphone in front of him, and that was when I realized everyone from the whole station had crowded around every available window to watch.

This was real.

He was proposing, and I didn't want to miss a thing.

I was too surprised to cry - which is pretty surprised! I listened and smiled and shook my head in bewilderment and said yes before he officially asked the question. I said yes again after he asked. 

He slid a ring on my finger and later presented me with a gold rose that stands in a vase filled with coffee beans. (Perfection. And it still sits in our office!)

The station threw a party for us after the show, and I'm fairly certain I did NO work the rest of the day. 

So here we are, nine years later, still smiling and celebrating the beauty of the beginning that came about that day. 

Ryan, thank you for choosing me and choosing the perfect proposal. Thank you for keeping every promise you made that day and for celebrating with me today!

And thank you for crawling down the hallway at the station so I didn't see you. :) 

I love you, Ryan!