It was about 5pm the night of our going away party in Arizona and we were running late.
I was standing in the bathroom bent over in front of the sink, one hand attempting to strap my heel and the other holding on to the toothbrush hanging out of my mouth.
"Babe." Richard called to me from the bedroom.
"Yes?" I said, only half coherent as I was attempting not to drool toothpaste all over my outfit.
"Come here for a second."
I paused, looked at myself in the mirror quizzically and spit out the toothpaste- my shoe still un- strapped. I grabbed the door and opened it slightly.
"What?"
"Come here for a second. I made you something."
This did nothing but further perplex me.
Honestly I was wondering if it would be rude to ask him to give it to me in the car as I knew we were already running late (and Richard is not the fastest person in the world... at anything) so who knows how long this might take.
"Babe, we're gonna be late..." I decided on instead as I wiped my mouth and hopped toward him, still no luck with my heel.
"I know, but it will only take a minute. I want to give it to you before we leave and then we are going to be with so many people all night..." he trailed off. I could see it seemed important so I sat down and joined him on the bed.
My stomach was anxious, but not because I was nervous... because I was impatient (as I tend to be) and worried that our guests would start arriving and we wouldn't be there to greet them!
He pulled out a card from under the pillow. I opened it and began to read. It was sweet and mushy and touching. I would expect nothing less from Richard. And it did, for a second, make me forget about the party we were missing.
He then pulled out a small photo album. It was familiar. The color and texture were exactly the same as the photo album he had given me over 2 years ago; the first gift he ever made me.
"Last time I made you a photo album it was to tell you how I felt about you and to commemorate our friendship and the journey we had taken finding each other. This time, I wanted to make you something to remember our time in Arizona. The journey we took here together before we embark on a new journey..."
I, of course thought that the "new journey" he was talking about was our impending move to Tennessee.
The first photo album he had made me, he had written on the backs of every picture. As I opened this one and flipped the first picture over, I realized he had done the same again. It was filled with pictures of the two of us and all the things we'd done over the last 2 years. It was amazing.
As I flipped through it, my heart started to race a little. I could feel my face get flush and I dared not hope that this gift was leading to something more...
And then, I was staring at the last picture in the album, my heart pounding.
On the back it said- " The Future."Honestly I wasn't sure how to feel about that... touched, excited, let down, annoyed that we still weren't at the party after all that... a little of all those emotions ran through my head and body.
Of course I knew the future was Richard and I getting married, that was no surprise.
What came next, though, was.
"Oh, I have one more thing for you." he said nonchalantly and pulled out a teal colored box from under the pillow.
As a woman, you don't have to see the name on that color box to know what's inside it.
"Will you marry me baby?" he said softly as he opened it, revealing the most beautiful, most perfect, exactly what I would have chosen diamond set in platinum.
"Of course." I answered.
I really thought I would cry, but instead (thanks mom) I turned bright red and spoltchy.
We were pretty late for the party...
... ask me if I cared. :-)
R + S
