The Engagement

Today is the anniversary of the day dear Hubby proposed to me 9 years ago. Every July 1st we talk about how this very special day came to be. Hubby and I had been dating on and off throughout high school and college and had remained good friends, even when we weren't dating. This time, though, I knew it was for real. I had been waiting for several months for a ring and was sure that it was never going to happen. To further complicate things, we were living 4 hours away from each other and traveling every weekend or so to see each other.

On June 30th, Hubby came to visit and we had a wonderful half-birthday celebration out with my family. We left the following morning to go back to his place in Georgia, as we were then going to drive up to Altanta to do the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th. On the way back to his townhouse, we stopped in Savannah, as we had done many times before. Hubby said that he wanted to show me something. He said that they had been doing work in Reynold's Square and he wanted to show me what they had done to the John Wesley statue. Reynold's Square is my most favorite place in Savannah. It's a beautiful park and I just love this place. I couldn't imagine what they could have done to the statue and started asking questions about it. He said that they had polished the statue and it was shiny. Well, as we approached the square I could see that the statue wasn't shiny and he walked me around to the front of the statue and I said, "It's not shiny." With his cool little half-smile Hubby said, "It isn't? Well maybe this is what's shiny." He then got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. My dear Hubby has always been a fabulous speaker, never at a loss for words or showing nervousness. He was a television reporter...he never shows he's nervous. He was so nervous on this day that as he recited the proposal he had written and memorized, he was fumbling his words. It was the sweetest thing! I have to tell you that I did make him sweat it out for a few seconds. My answer was, "let me think about it...yes." In that split second though, all the blood drained out of his face. I couldn't let him suffer too long although after all the talking I did about this ring, I couldn't let him off the hook that easily. After the yes, he stood up and we kissed. There were several people in the park that clapped and one couple who had been married for over 40 years that came up to us to congratulate us and wish us the best of luck. When I asked Hubby why he decided to propose to me there, he said that he couldn't imagine proposing to a good little Methodist girl like me anywhere else and that he figured it needed John Wesley's blessing.

After a few minutes in the park we went to get something to eat and I called my family on the way there. As we sat at our table and waited for the food to come, we prayed that God would bless our life together. It was truly a wonderful day that will stay with me as long as I live.

These pictures were taken a couple of months later when we returned to Reynold's Square.