I made a passing reference to my engagement in Wednesday’s Random Dozen post, and Carrie said she’d like to hear my engagement story. I thought for sure I had told about it somewhere on my blog before, but the closest I came was a mention in my love story post from three years ago. I thought about saving this for our anniversary in December, but it is a milestone anniversary (30 years!) and I have other plans for that post! And the anniversary of our engagement isn’t until May, and I don’t want to wait that long.

So, as I mentioned in our love story, it took me a long time to determine Jim was “the one.” Part of that was because it takes me a long time to come to most decisions, especially major ones, but also because I had been engaged before and didn’t see the problems in that relationship until I had been out of it for awhile. How could I be sure this time?

Coming to that determination is told in the other post, but I don’t remember if I specifically told Jim, “OK, I’m ready now,” or if he just sensed it, or, as happens often with long-dating couples, little sentences like, “If we get married…” become “When we get married…”

But we had been dating about a year and a half while attending college. The end of the school year came, and Jim offered to drive me to the airport — I was from Texas, he was from Idaho, and we were in college in South Carolina. We wouldn’t see each other until the end of summer, when he planned to come and visit and meet my family before we headed back to school. I had a feeling he might ask me when he came to visit.

But in the mean time he suggested we stop off for a picnic lunch at a nearby state park (Paris Mountain State Park, for those familiar with the area) before going to the airport. He checked to make sure it was okay: most Christian colleges have rules about dating couples not going off campus alone lest they be tempted to engage in any hanky-panky. The person he asked said it was fine: we found out later that that person might not have know what they were talking about, but we went in good faith that we were doing right.

We got chicken from somewhere, drove into the park, and set up at a picnic table. I noticed Jim wasn’t eating much, but I didn’t suspect anything. He suggested we take a walk off the main clearing. We came to a fallen tree and found it sturdy enough, so we sat on it and chatted for a while. Then he asked me to marry him. I don’t remember the exact words — I do think he got down on one knee. But my answer was, “Yes!”

And then when my mom picked me up at the airport in Texas, I had a surprise for her! I showed her my engagement ring right off the bat. I think she suspected things were heading that way. She was excited.

Jim did come to visit and meet the family that August. I had done preliminary wedding planning through the summer, and we finalized some things that week, then headed for school, where I student taught that semester. Then we got married in December.

I’d love to hear your engagement stories if you’d like to share.