After 3 years of dating, I moved out to California for a yearlong clinical internship. Lucky for both of us, the year apart brought us closer together despite the miles between us. We moved in together when I returned to Philadelphia in September, and after many conversations over the past year about our plans to one day get married, I purchased an iPod for Anne (who doesn’t much care for jewelry). I had it engraved with lyrics to a song we said made us think of our relationship and which we planned to play at our future wedding. Anne knew I wanted her to propose to me when she felt ready to take that step. Well, fast forward a year. No engagement; the iPod made a move across town with us to our new home, still boxed up and waiting for Anne to pop the question. I continued to think that every romantic walk we took could end with a proposal! I knew she still wanted to marry me, but I was learning that I needed to be more patient and let her feel ready.
As it turned out, in October 2010, Anne spoke with my parents and told them about her intentions to propose to me. She was working with a local jeweler to design a custom engagement ring but given her difficult work schedule and limited shop hours, as well as her own perfectionistic tendencies, making the ring took longer than anticipated.
She originally planned to propose on our 5th anniversary (December 20th). But the ring wasn’t ready. Then she planned for Christmas, which we were spending with my family. But the ring wasn’t ready. New Years Eve rolled around, and we opted to stay in and sip champagne. At midnight we headed up to our roof deck and were able to see at least a dozen set of fireworks going off throughout the city. It was awesome. It was lovely. It was romantic. But still no ring. After the first three duds, Anne worked on planning our engagement for my birthday. She made dinner reservations at a nice place in our neighborhood, and we had a lovely dinner together. But the ring wasn’t ready!!! I saw more and more meaningful dates pass us by, and sighed knowing that I’d be by her side forever, whether or not we were engaged, but still hoped that we’d get to have a wedding some time soon. Luckily, the day after my birthday she got the call from the jeweler and hopped downtown with some strange excuse about dropping paperwork off somewhere. We spent the day at a baby shower for a close friend. At this point, everyone was in on it but me – our families, our friends, coworkers, and more! But Saturday passed, and Sunday came, and nothing happened. At least the ring was ready!
Sunday afternoon while we lounged around at home she remarked that we didn’t get to have cake and candles for my birthday, so she planned to pick up some cupcakes. Later that night, I was chatting online with friends, watching the Grammy’s, folding laundry, Anne was fussing in the kitchen and asked me to “unplug” while we had cake. I reluctantly flipped my laptop shut with a quick “brb” to the friend I was chatting with. Anne turned out the lights, lit some candles on the cupcakes and started to sing. But instead of the regular Happy Birthday lyrics, she was asking me to spend the rest of my life with her. And instead of just plain old cupcakes, there was a gorgeous sapphire ring on the plate. After a moment of confusion, and hugs and kisses, I ran upstairs to dig the year-old iPod out of my closet, expired warranty and all. And she was thrilled to see it, coincidentally engraved with my promise to her – You are the one I’ve been waiting for. It was so worth it :)
So, lovers – what’s your engaygement story? Has anyone else had to wait for their partner? Have any of you felt rushed? I hope it was worth the wait for you, too!
My engagement ring, designed by Anne, and her engagement iPod (photo by us)
You continue to amaze me, especially with your picture-taking skills and your blog skills. (comment by Anne)
p.s. That’s a nice looking ring! (another comment by Anne)
Beautiful ring! And LOVE the iPod, that is awesome!
aww I love sapphire rings because i got a sapphire engagement ring too. And the ipod, so touching that I almost shed a tear. Congrats to the both of you!
aw, you bring tears to my eyes! you guys are so cute! :)