I could barely chew my food that night.

We were at a nice little Italian place that night and I was nervous about what was going to go down after dinner. Not that I was actually nervous about the event, per se, more just nervous that it would happen without a hitch. As I looked out into the darkening sky filled with various lightning bolts I started thinking that maybe said hitch would be falling from the heavens at any minute.

“Is everything okay?” She asked.

I looked into her eyes and noticed once again how blue they were. I had to think of a quick line to distract from my obvious panicked state by making some stupid joke.

“Oh yeah,” I said, “I’m just marveling at how ‘authentic’ this Italian food is. Who knew that Chef Boyardee worked at a restaurant in Indiana?”

She feigned laughter, something she’s good at, and attended to her plate once again. I placed my hand in my pocket and made absolutely sure the ring was still there. Then I wondered where the hell I had come up with the Chef Boyardee line.

Dinner was finished. The ring’s safe place had been checked 12 more times. I took her to a beautiful fountain that we had passed on the way to the restaurant.

I was breathing hard, I was shaking terribly, and sweat was actually coming off my eyelids. Who knew that someone could be so nervous when he was about to make a drastic change in his life?

I’ll never forget the look on her face when she said, “yes”. It’s a look that will remain with me for the rest of my life. The love, the admiration, the caring, the sincerity…I love this girl that is the future Mrs. Tice.

Needless to say, I'm happy.

Actually, "happy" isn't a strong enough word. I'm freakin' thrilled!

I’ve received the congratulations, I’ve received the joking “why in the hell did you do that’s”…at least I HOPE they are joking…and I’ve received countless requests on retelling the story of how I proposed. Luckily, I have the above story to tell them. Luckily, I stuck with this plan because the other ideas I had would have made for a horrible “how we got engaged” story:

How our engagement story would have been if…

I stuck with the first plan:
I had finished eating the meal that she had made for me and stuck my dirty plate in the sink for her to wash later. I told her that I’m going out for a beer and snuck around back instead. I attached the ring to a rock which I proceeded to throw through her window. I ran back in and said, “well look at the ROCK attached to the rock!”. Then I watched TV.

I stuck with the second plan:
I somehow got Haircut 100 to reform and play in her living room. After they were done I dropped down on one knee and proposed to her. Then I set off some roman candles to get the band to get the hell out of her house. Then we made out. It was awesome.

Third plan:
I hid her ring in a Quarter Pounder at McDonalds. Unfortunately she ordered a McFish. Then I had to marry this chick who actually ordered the Quarter Pounder that night. I hate my life. I hate this chick that I had to marry. I hate McDonalds.

Fourth plan:
She found the ring in my sock drawer. I had to do it.

See, none really measure up to what really happened. All I can say is that I’m happy that everything worked out and I’m thrilled that I’m engaged to her. I’m thrilled for us.

How is everything? Perfect.

Copyright © 2007 Ray Tice
Please do not remove the copyright from this work.

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