Just in case you haven’t found your way over to my Facebook page lately, I wanted to make it official with an announcement on here. Earlier this month, on Wednesday the 9th, I made an honest woman out of JenB – well, we got one step closer anyway.
Yep, that’s right. JenB and I got engaged! Woot woot!
The Ring
The story is quite a humorous one – and I’ll get to that in a second. I’m pretty proud of the ring, too, given all that’s going on in our lives right now. In my experience, if you don’t make the time, there’s never a ‘perfect’ time to get engaged/married or to have a child, so sometimes you just have to do it and work your way through some of the junk that comes up. So, for those of you that like sparkly things, here you go…
Our Engagement Story
The story of how I popped her the question is pretty close to my heart because my son said that he wanted to help me with the proposal. That may be somewhat unconventional from the usual restaurant proposal with the ring in a glass of champaign. I thought his excitement was awesome, personally.
My plan was to turn back the clock a bit – back to the days of elementary school and passing notes. I know you remember doing it too. I remember sitting in the back of Mrs. Stadaker’s 3rd grade class passing notes back and forth with Heather W. We thought we were so sneaky because the backs of our desks were open so we could pass notes to each other right through them if we reached far enough. It was such an exhilarating feeling passing notes and one that is synonymous with childhood. What better way to propose?
So, I enlisted the help of my son with the note. We crafted our message very carefully, just like I did back in the day. The wording had to be just perfect – one false word and we could be done for. All of our hopes dashed in one fail swoop of the ol’ Crayola. After one failed draft, our masterpiece was ready.
Next, I had to fold it. You can’t pass a letter this size without folding it! But again, not just any fold job would do. It had to be perfect. What’s the perfect shape for a love letter? Duh! A heart.
I folded the letter into a heart and handed it off to my son for safe keeping until it was time to deliver his clandestine cargo.
The Delivery
My plan was to have my son sit next to JenB at the dinner table and pass the note to her after we were done eating. She’d read the letter and he’d hand her a Crayon to mark her answer and pass it back. Once she’d passed it back, I’d do my part – you know, the on bended knee thing.
We were all set. We knew exactly what our parts were. We even practiced for contingencies.
What if Jen didn’t sit in her usual chair?
What if something was spilled during dinner?
We planned for it all. Well, almost…
The Twist
Every story has a twist, right? Nothing can go EXACTLY according to plan when it comes to momentous occasions. This occasion was no different.
After all of our careful consideration to the details, our rehearsals and meticulous contingency planning there was one thing – or rather, one person, we couldn’t plan for.
JenB’s Dad.
About 30 minutes before we sat down to dinner, Jen announced her Dad would be joining us for dinner.
WHAT?
Panic set in. Well, it did for me. My son was cool, calm and collected. I asked him if he thought we should reschedule?!?
“Nope, we gotta do it tonight!”
Ok. Let’s do this.
We all sat down at the dinner table to eat. None of our contingency plans were needed. Jen sat in her usual spot, nothing was spilled that night – everything was going according to plan. My son was a bit eager to get the note passed, so instead of waiting until after dinner he did it right as she was taking her first bite. A little earlier than expected but nothing I couldn’t handle. I played along with his lead and, after she passed it back, asked them what they were up to.
“What do you guys have there? Let me see it.” I told my son.
“Nope!” he replied.
“Come…on…son…let me see what you have there.” I responded, growing a bit nervous. I had to set up my transition to the proposal. At this point, Jen just thought my son was being cute by passing the note. She still had no clue!
With a bit of a twisted face and a few (dozen) winks, I asked again…
“Come on, whatcha got there. Let…me…see…it. Please?”
“Ok!” He responded and passed me the note.
I pretended to read it out loud and remarked at how cute the gesture was. And then I stood up and moved next to Jen and got down on one knee.
And that’s about the time I got a little light-headed as I realized I was proposing and her dad was staring at us, eyes as wide as a deer’s about to be struck by a car. I stumbled a bit but regained my composure enough to ask her to marry me. She looked on the verge of tears herself, but managed to say yes.
I was the happiest man alive. My son was proud of his role and of our well-executed plan. Pop-pop (Jen’s dad) was surprised. He didn’t know a show would be included with the night’s meal. And Jen? Well, let’s just say she looked at her ring 37 times that night during dinner. I counted.
What a beautiful story, thank you for sharing. Tell your son he did a great job!!!!
Congratulations! What a great story to share!
CUTE!!! 🙂 Congrats!
Beautiful story! Congrats.
So sweet of him.Wish I had a son as sweetest as yours.Life is easy around him.I love your young man.Thank you for sharing this with us.
Wow! Congratulations! What a touching story, one your son will remember his whole life.
My only concern? The name of your blog… 😉
@wonderoftech It is a bit of a conundrum, huh? Although, when JenB and I got together I did change the header to “not so” single.
@Joanna Wilson Thanks for the comment! I am so proud of him and he was pretty proud of himself, too! It went off without a hitch, despite the curve ball thrown at us!
@M_oa_SD How about “Formerly”? BTW, gorgeous ring! 🙂
Congratulations! That is a fabulous way to propose. It’s a gorgeous ring, and that note? Priceless!!
Thank you! It’s not quite “Bachelor” romantic, but it certainly worked for us and my son was so proud he got to be included. It’s something we’ll all always remember!
Hello,
hmm your love story i mean your engagement story is so awesome and entertained me very much especialy your letter of purposing.
Hello,
i really love your engagement story!!…i hope you live your life with a blessing of GO….
THANKS
That’s a beautiful story Daniel. Thanks for sharing. You look really good together. 🙂
Thank you, Marissa!
beautiful story…
thanks for sharing it…
Aaawwwww… so sweet! Congratulations and all the best to your married life. Your son really is awesome!
LOL…This is very sweet and I am sure no one can ever say no to this… Maybe some men can get an idea from this…
What a nice story. It brought a tear to my eyes that your son wanted to be right in the middle of making that proposal. It is a good indication it will work out really well.
Aw, thanks Jeannie. I thought it was cute he wanted to be a part of it as well. It may not have been a typical proposal but it worked for us!
I so love it when a plan comes together and a beautiful couple makes it a success, in a world where successful relationships are often frowned upon.
Kudos to the happy engagement, guys – very cool your boy could play such an active part in all that as well. Great bonding going on there which will strengthen your family unit.
Congrats again.
Thanks Martin!
What a beautiful and well executed proposal plan! I love it. Such a great idea to get your son involved. Good luck with all your wedding plans!
Such a cute plan. You are really good in caring a woman’s heart and I like how you propose, it’s so cool and cute. Thank you for sharing your story to us.
Smart move to play the son card when proposing :)) Yet the letter alone was one of a kind… Haven’t seen such an original proposal in a while 🙂 It can only suggest that your marriage will also be original and not dull at all. Good for you!
Beautiful story. Love the note. We [my wife aJamie and I] used to pass notes, only we didn’t go to the same school. So I’d get frinds to deliver them to her in class. We’d each wrap up very small pieces of paper that say “I love you” in duct tape and newspaper and anything else we coud find. We’d both spend our days slowly and wuietly opwning each other’s note. We always knew what it said, but it was so exciting getting to it. We’ve been together since middle school… I love Jamie. 🙂
Congratulations to you both.
Congratulations Daniel. All the best.
Thanks, Kyle. How’s everything going in your world?
That is an awesome way to propose. Congratulations to both of you.
Such a beautiful story! Lucky for you to have an accomplice, your son is so cute and very supportive. Good luck on your wedding preparation and married life
Congrats! You are a clever guy! That has to be one of the most unique proposals I have ever heard of and you got your son involved. I may want to try something like that myself.
Very inspiring story…You did a great job…thanks a lot for sharing with us..
I’m happy for you…I really inspire reading your stories…Thanks a lot for sharing with us…
What a wonderful sharing of stories…I really appreciate it and I’m happy for you its an inspiring and perfect kind of engagement..