|
Saturday, February 05, 2005
On this date...
On February 5th, 1999, I was a senior in college. The new semester had just started and, to save money so that I could pay for the wedding to the boyfriend who had not proposed, I was living at home. It was a Friday night and I sat in my bedroom "studying" and watching TV. Allison had called because she was sad over some boyfriend or other and lonely. She wanted to come over, so I told her I wasn't leaving so she might as well.
My boyfriend was in Manhattan. He had a job interview...at night...which I didn't find in the least bit odd. Or, rather, I did, but he had perfectly logical explanations. One of the officers of the company had been in some foreign country on a business trip. He was flying in to LaGuardia that evening and was going on vacation with his wife the following morning. He would not be back for 3 weeks, and since the company really needed a new IT director before that and this gentleman's approval was required, the interview simply had to take place over dinner. My boyfriend and one of the other officers were to pick Mr. Important up at the airport and then go straight to this dinner/interview.
My boyfriend called me on his way to Manhattan from the Catskills. He called me again a couple of hours later from the airport to tell me how nervous he was and that he really couldn't talk because he had just walked away from the two men in baggage claim so that he could "go to the bathroom." A couple of hours later, he called me from the street while walking from the restaurant to the parking garage to retrieve his car. The interview went well but he wasn't sure yet how well. He was really nervous. He needed to go so he could pay the parking attendant and since I had company, he would call me in a couple of hours when he arrived home in the Catskills.
Two hours later, my phone rang and my friend made excuses about needing to go back to the dorm. It was quite late. Around midnight or after...I'm no longer certain of the time. My boyfriend started talking about missing me...needing to see me. I told him that it was only a week until Valentine's Day and we had already bought his ticket to come to the Midwest to see me then. I told him he'd be here sooner than he thought. He replied, "No, I'll be there sooner than YOU think." Confused, I asked what he meant. He said to look out the window. I did and said "Yeah? So? There's a car on my street." He said, "Look again." I looked and the lights flashed. I said, "How did you know the driver was going to flash his li...." I dropped the phone on my bedroom floor and ran to the front door, out onto the porch and leaped into his arms.
He proposed to me on my parents' front porch. I cried and kissed him and said, "It's so cold out here!" I led him inside and sat down on the living room couch. I kissed him and asked to look at the ring. It was then that he informed me that since I hadn't said yes, it wasn't mine. We argued over whether I had said yes and I had to admit that my answer to "Will you marry me?" Was "It's cold out here!" He asked again and this time I said yes. We told my family that he was here, had proposed, and that we were going to go to Steak'n'Shake (for those of you not familiar, "steakburgers," fries, and milkshakes...kind of retro, in a very loose sense of the word, chain restaurant). He called Allison and invited her along since he had sent her to my house to make sure that I stayed awake until he got there and to keep my mind occupied so that I wouldn't question his late night "interview." The only things he didn't lie about was his location. First at LaGuardia. Second, after dinner on the plane walking on a crowded "street"... between terminals in Detroit. Third going to the rental car parking garage to pick up "his" car. Is it any wonder I love this man?
And in case you didn't know before -- I am the most stupid and naive woman on the planet. But I have the most wonderful husband.
[
posted
@
9:39 AM
]
[ ]
[
View Comments (1) ]
[ E-mail this Post ]
|
