Jessica said yes!

Well, folks, I am happy to announce that I was successful in tricking Jessica into wearing my ring. Yes, we’re engaged to be married!

Even before the proposal, we knew we’d be married. We’ve been living together nearly two years, so that would be the logical step, right? But we had a mutual understanding that there would be no such event without the necessary hardware.

Yesterday, Jessica and I went to lunch — a normal Saturday event. Afterward, we didn’t have any other reason to be out and couldn’t think of anywhere we wanted to be, so we headed home. But before we got home, she decided she wanted to look at rings so that I could get an idea of the particular style she liked. So, we headed to the mall.

We first went to Zales, a particular favorite of mine. We spent a decent amount of time looking and touching. There were plenty she liked that I could afford (every man’s DREAM!), and after she’d had her fill, we pressed on. I don’t remember where all we went in the mall, but she decided that she wanted to visit Gordon’s to see what other options she might have.

The story is the same for Gordon’s, pretty much. We were greeted by a very friendly and professional saleswoman. I believe it was all in the spirit of making a sale, but the fact was that she was very pleasant. She even asked us to have a seat, and I knew right then that was a sales tactic — when you sit, you’re usually somewhat obligated to listen. Actually, it was a nice experience.

Instead of allowing Jessica to point at what she wanted to look at, this lady looked at Jessica’s hands, complimented her on her pretty fingers, and then proceeded to pick out rings she thought would look best on Jessica. Jessica LOVED this sort of attention! Every ring the lady brought out, Jessica liked to some degree. She even helped Jessica find styles that she wasn’t even aware she liked.

Then came “the one”. It was a three-stone, one-carat set in a white gold band. Of all the ones we looked at, Jessica fell in love with this one. I noticed it right away, and I began to smile inside. After watching Jessica’s reaction further, I told the saleswoman to box it up; we’d be taking it home. Jessica looked at me in total disbelieve, her eyes filling with tears as she said “Really? I can have this one?” Those tears began to spill down her cheeks in sheer joy as she began to realize that this very moment was the moment she was waiting for! “Matthew, oh my God, I LOVE this ring!” She happily sobbed.

I paid cash and the deal was done. We were told that the jeweler was on vacation, so it’d be a couple of weeks before it could be re-sized. The saleswoman informed us there were special rubber pieces that could be bought and used to hold a large ring more snug until then. With that, we walked out of the mall with our Gordon’s bag, hardware and warranty card inside.

We floated back to the truck to go home. I’m not sure what she was thinking at this time because I was too consumed with my own thoughts. She was there when I bought the ring, so most of the surprise was already gone. How would I propose? Letting her wear it out of the store like a new pair of shoes wasn’t an option, and now I have the thing in my hand. How do I give it to her?

We went to Target to see if we could find the “snuggers”, and this was just fine as it allowed me more time to think. I could wait until late October, when we had our first date. But that was too far away for such a significant item. I can’t just take her out to eat — no restaurant we have has any sort of romantic value, and she’d be expecting it anyway, so that wouldn’t work. And if that isn’t good enough, then I sure can’t just hand it to her when we got home. I’d have to do something memorable and from the heart…

“Hey, what about this… how ’bout we go to our kissy spot in Big Spring? It’s the only place of significance that I know of” I inquired, watching her face for signs of disapproval.

“Yeah, that sounds fine. Whatever you decide, Matthew” she replied.

“I guess being proposed to in Big Spring isn’t in every woman’s dream” I explained. “But it’s special to us, and that’s all that matters, right?”

For some of my less faithful readers: Big Spring was where we met the following weekend after our first date. We were three hours apart and wanted to see each other desperately, so we decided to me halfway. It was there that we first kissed. We entered as two people, interested in each other’s company. But we left as a couple.

So we left Target to go home, take a shower and get ready for our out-of-town date in Big Spring. As soon as we got into town, we headed straight for Subway. Now, at this point, you may be thinking “Subway? Is that your idea of a romantic dinner?” Well, no. In fact, I don’t think Jessica was too happy about it either. But if you’ve ever been to Big Spring, you’ll know there “ain’t shit” there. Plus, Subway was what we had for dinner when we first met there in November of 2006. I wanted us to sit in the same table, nearly two years later, so I we could reminisce about the evolution of our relationship.

As we finished our sandwiches, we both began to feel the butterflies. I started to wad up my empty paper and scoot out, but she said “Wait! I’m not ready, yet.” So we sat for just another moment as I stared into the eyes of my bride-to-be.

Now, as far as she knew, the ring was in it’s box, in the bag, in the truck. I won’t reveal when it was that I slipped it into my pocket. But when we arrived at the park to go sit in our kissy spot, I left the bag in the truck. “It’s still light out, and there are people here. Let’s just go sit in our spot, maybe walk around a bit, and then we’ll come back to the truck to get it,” I said.

So we walked the caliche trail through the mesquite to the little brick bench in the middle of nowhere. There it was, silently waiting for our return. We took our seats upon this bench, just as we did nearly two years ago. We took each other in our arms and just held on. We talked about how she tricked me into smooching her, and how it was her intention all along for me to do it. I remember that entire night! How her smile warmed my soul, and how it felt so right for us to be where we were. We couldn’t believe it’d been nearly two years already!

Darkness was falling and the mosquitos were biting. The air was crisp with the stale scent of the pond nearby. I began to tell Jessica how much she meant to me. I admitted that I didn’t always express my love and appreciation for her in the way that she would prefer. I told her that our circumstances thus far led us down a path which sullied much of the excitement there would have been in a proposal and even marriage, but that if I could get at least one thing done in a traditional manner, it would be this…

As I was telling her these things, I was stealthily reaching into my pocket and fishing out her ring. And just as I told her what it was that I could do traditionally, I lurched off the bench onto my knee and presented her with her ring. “I’m not going to ask you to marry me, because I’m pretty sure we’ve already covered that. So I’ll just give you this ring to make it official.”

She gasped a little even though she knew it was coming. But she was under the impression the ring was still in the truck, so at least there was some element of surprise! “You tricked me!” she exclaimed.

We left San Angelo for a road trip to Big Spring as a couple that Saturday afternoon. But we returned to San Angelo that night as the future Mr. and Mrs. Clark.

I’ve spent five years deciding on what I wanted and making sure there wasn’t anything I didn’t want. But these past two have shown me that I can have someone who loves as I love, thinks as I think, and lives as I live. Jessica will be my wife, and that makes me the happiest I’ve ever been.

Related posts:

1. About Jessica
2. Happy birthday, Jessica!