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View Full Version : I can keep a secret, no matter what she says...


JerAndKathy
07-15-2006, 08:53 PM
Well, many moon ago Kathy & I decided that we were going to get married. But, it would probably be best for families if she moved here first, we 'courted' and had a bit of a 'normal' relationship before I proposed. And so it was to be. We'd go through spurts every now & again where we'd talk about the big day, we could do this, we could do that, etc. But never anything serious.

She was coming down here for a visit in September of '03, and she had told me that she wanted to go out to dinner. We never go out on real dates, she wanted to go out. Ok, fine. I'll get something arranged. Wasn't sure what yet, but I'd figure something out.

So we were on the phone one night, I said I love you. She said I love you, too. That moment, it just seemed 'right'. I don't know what it was, but it seemed the right time. To hell with waiting, it seemed like now was the time to do it.

My Dad's Mom had died when I was in 5th grade (1989'ish I think), and my brother and I had gotten a couple of her rings. One, I knew wasn't a fancy ring, the other I knew was a diamond. But I didn't know who got which one. So I called Mom, asked where they were "either in my dresser or the safe deposit box". Yeah, I knew that much, do you know which? LoL She said she would check, and I explained why. I wanted the diamond, and told her why.

I expected a lecture or something, but didn't get much response. She did call back within the half hour and said I could stop by and pick up the diamond 'tomorrow'. The ring was a solitaire with a lattice work type band on the sides and the bottom was one thick bead of gold with a thin bead on either side. (In this case, I mean 'bead' as in a 'bead of caulking')

Now to get it sized. There's only one jewler in town I would trust with such a special task. So the next day I was off to the jewler. Dropped off the ring and it would be back in 5 days, I think it was. Ok, cool. I was still formulating just exactly how I would propose. I knew I wanted to do it at dinner, but how I didn't know.

I got in touch with one resturant in Columbus that my Dad raves about, but they are not accessible. Damn. They said if I had a collapsible wheelchair, they could get me in - which I do. But I wanted in my power chair for the evening. So I called Dad wanting another resturant. He said had I asked him in the first place, he'd have told me The Refectory (http://therefectory.citysearch.com/page/nur4/Home.html) from the start. The other place is damn good, but this is just a notch better. Sooo, I got reservations.

So this is a couple days after I decided, and Kathy brings up our wedding. I play it cool, and just act normal. We talk about our wedding, this that or the other thing. Nothing out of the ordinary.

I finally decide how I'm going to do it. When I go to pick up the ring:

http://www.jerandkathy.com/kathy/UW_Photos/ring.jpg

I stop by a local store and pick up a spool of ribbony-lacey stuff. At the time, I had a gal working for me who also worked part time for a local florist (Fuzzy's Flowers). She said they had beautiful roses and good prices. So I went with them. I was a bit leary, though. I mean, buying flowers from FUZZY'S FLOWERS? LoL

So, here is the plan...

Kathy arrives in town several hours before our reservations.
We sit and relax for a bit, and then she showers and I get spiffed up.
While she is showering, Cindy brings the roses by (12 red + 1 yellow for friendship) and hides them under the back seat of the van.
Karen and Ernie drive us to dinner 45 mins away and then go on to a friend's for dinner while we eat.
Once we go in, Karen will take said ribbon and tie it around the roses (and ring) and deliver them to the matre d.
He'll bring them to us, I'll come up with some snappy speach, she'll say yes.

That's not exactly how it unfolded, though. What actually happened is in the next post...LoL

JerAndKathy
07-15-2006, 09:16 PM
So, there I sit, watching tv on the day she's to arrive. The phone rings, she's in Buffalo. She got an early start, is slightly ahead of schedule, and is making good time. GREAT!

Four hours later, another call, she's in...Buffalo. Um, did I hear right? She's stuck in Buffalo. My pulse quickens, my mind races as my plans are falling apart. Seems like forever, but she then says no, she's in Cleveland (2hrs away). Later, she says she doesn't know what made her say that, it just popped into her head as I answered the phone. I breath a sigh of relief.

The gal who was on staff at that time had never met Kathy, never seen us together, and had never seen how we are with each other. I hung up the phone and said fornicating female dog, only not quite so politely. Shelly's face went white, "You better hope she didn't hear that!" All she had hear all week was how great we are together, how in love we are, I'm proposing, and then I come out with that. LoL So I explained - and she understood - sort of. Once she saw us together,tho, she understood completely.

So, Kathy arrives (Karen already has the ring and ribbon) we sit and chit chat for a while, then she's off to get showered. She's in the shower and Cindy shows up with flowers, Pam shows up to drop off someone's Avon and sticks around to chat with Cindy, and then Karen shows up. So Kathy gets out of the shower to a houseful. She thought it odd, but everyone had their reason (Cindy was picking up her paycheck).

The plan is back on track. I even had an excuse if Kathy had gotten a whiff of the roses since she was riding in the back of the van. ;)

We walk down this hallway and turn right into this small'ish room. It's a long room with tables lining each side and a pathway down the center of the room. We're seated in the corner of the room on the 'hallway side'. Only one other couple is in the room at the other end in the opposite corner in the booth. We're both hidden from the other.

We're talking, looking over the menu, my ears keep perking (I have sensitive ears) as I try to catch the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway. In front of me, and to Kathy's left...Is the wall that the door is on, but the top half of it is a screening type thing. I see him walk by slowly, my head doesn't move but my eyes follow him from the second I see him until he reaches the doorway.

He steps into Kathy's view as he stands at the doorway, pauses, and then turns to walk towards us. My pulse quickens again and I see this horrified look on Kathy's face. I later found out she was afraid of him embarassing himself by bringing them to the wrong table. He comes behind me, in between us, and lays the box across the table in front of Kathy. She's just staring at it, I'm trying to remain stone-faced, but my patented grin creeps across my face. "Did you do this?!"

"And there's a little something tied right there for you, so be careful." And he walks away with a smile. She glances down and sees the ring. The exact sequence from here on out is a bit of a blur, but...

I made some feeble attempt at a speech. It wasn't at all what I had hoped, but it was from the heart which is the most important part. And then I waited...

And waited...

And waited...

And then started to worry a bit, this is where she was supposed to start crying and say yes. I blushed then, and said something corny like "I guess I need to actually ask now, eh?" She laughed, I laughed. I asked, and she said yes.

That is the most important part of the evening, and since my arms a bit tired from typing...I'll save the rest of the details for Kathy. ;)

Jaci
07-15-2006, 09:21 PM
I love it so far! I hadn't heard this story until now, it's great!

*Diane*
07-15-2006, 10:02 PM
It is so rare that we get to hear the groom's side of the story. love it! especially because it is so apparent how much you love her. :)

KathyandJer
07-15-2006, 10:47 PM
Okay, so now for the rest of the story :lol:

Yes, I was afraid that the Maitre D' was bringing the flowers to the wrong table. I just drove with Jer to the restaurant - he didn't bring flowers, and why the heck would there be a flower delivery as well?!?!? I was completely shocked...and happy...and waiting for Jer to finish his speech and ASK me to marry him :giggle:

I starting crying. Then I started shaking. Then I was happy and excited. Then I started crying again :lol: It was an ongoing thing all night like that! Just as I started calming down, Jer told me that it was his grandmother's ring :) I started crying again! Then a little later, as he told me everything that he did to prepare for that evening, I started crying again! Finally the waitress came over and said "Excuse me, Sir, but you'll have to stop making her cry!". First of all, Jer couldn't figure out who she was talking to referring to "Sir" :rofl: I explained that they were all happy tears, and she told us basically that word had gotten around already and congratulated us :happysigh:

We had an incredible evening - neither of us ate a whole lot of dinner (ended up taking almost half of each meal home with us) and when it came to ordering dessert, we decided to share one order of Creme Brulee (I had never had it before, and Jer loves it and so we'd share, because we weren't terribly hungry!). Our waitress then came out with our dessert - set an order of creme brulee in front of each of us and told us that the second one was compliments of the restaurant with their congratulations :)

Jer then made fun of me by asking how much of the decor I was going to take home to put in my scrapbook :giggle: I had already started thinking about what I could take to remember the evening :floating:

An incredible evening...just the beginning of an incredible life with the man of my dreams :lotsalove:

*Diane*
07-15-2006, 11:10 PM
:yesyes: So sweet, full of emotion and promise- that is a proposal story!!!

Jaci
07-16-2006, 12:32 AM
I love it. I got happy tears just reading it!

Emily
07-16-2006, 09:41 PM
that was so cute! Congrats!

Renny
07-25-2006, 03:17 PM
I love the proposal... and it was really neat to hear it from the mans point too :D

Angela
07-25-2006, 05:25 PM
What a great story! I'm sitting here tearing up!

*heather*
07-25-2006, 06:50 PM
You both have me in tears! I'm a totaly sap, and you've nailed my tear ducts! :)

angie
07-25-2006, 10:30 PM
That is a beautiful story. What a beautiful ring!

Jill
07-28-2006, 06:17 PM
I love the ring and the story that goes along with it. You two are very cute! :wiggle:

smiles
07-29-2006, 09:34 PM
That's such a cute story.

rowanmayfairs
07-30-2006, 06:11 PM
aww..how SWEET !!!

Hughto
09-04-2006, 11:57 AM
Great story you two! Congrats!

Andrea
09-06-2006, 10:43 PM
WOW jere...you had me in tears...WOW

kate
09-22-2006, 10:57 PM
:sappy: