Our Engagement Story

Betty Beguiles is asking readers to share their engagement stories. And since ours was pretty dern amazing, I'm joining in. I'm gonna do my best to make it fast-I tend to get wordy when reliving the experience.

Ted and I were in our third year of college and had been dating for about two years. We had already been ring shopping so I knew the proposal was just around the corner. On a Sunday afternoon (Divine Mercy Sunday, April 15, 2007 to be exact) we headed out to the lake, as we did on so many nice days before.

We picked up our traditional sweet tea from McAlister's, a must have when enjoying the lake, and assumed our spot on the rocks beside the water. Ted fished from the bank as I basked in the sunlight. We had done this so many times before and I wasn't expecting a thing. (I was hoping that it might have been the day, but I had gotten my hopes up on so many occasions in the last few months that I wouldn't let myself think about it.)

I fell asleep while leaning on the rocks and woke up to Ted complaining. "Dang people. No one has any respect!" "What's wrong?" I asked him. He told me that he found a "limb line", which was illegal on this particular lake. I had no idea what that was-some fisherman's girlfriend I was! He explained that it's a line with a hook on the end that you leave in the water and check later to see if you caught a fish. The conservationist in him was angry that someone broke the rules. He snagged the line with his hook and pulled it in.

When he got the line ashore we found that there wasn't a hook on the end, but an old water bottle filled with rocks. I think he cussed under his breath about littering, threw the bottle on the rocks, and went back to fishing. Being the nosey person that I am, I immediately opened the bottle and dumped out all the rocks. Inside was a piece of folded paper. I took it out and started reading it out loud to Ted.

"In 713 days you can..... 

see 4 lunar eclipses.

take 12,320,640 breaths of air.

shed 1,150 upper eyelashes.

have 2.56 children

see the birth of 18.56 baby kangaroos.

Or you can spend 713 days preparing because....."

At this point I'm thinking it's something that some crazy Apocoliptic nut planted it in the water and thinks the world will end 713 days from when the bottle in uncovered. (I know-I have no clue why that was my first reaction.)

Ted continued to fish while I read it to him. When I finished reading he said, "What did that last line say?"

"It says you can spend 713 days preparing ____" and when I looked up from reading he was on knee and said, "Because that's how long it's taken me to propose to you."

I was floored!! I had no idea that Ted had planted that bottle-the thought never crossed my mind. I was wearing his hat at the time to keep the sun out of my eyes and I remember thinking, "Oh no I am NOT gonna get proposed to wearing a hat!" I threw it down on the rocks and shouted, "No way!"

Then he said a bunch of really nice stuff that's only for us to know :) And ended it with "Kaitlin Nicole Rose, will you marry me?"

I obviously said, "YES!" He had the camera packed and we snapped a bunch of pictures. I left to go pee in the woods because, really, who can hold down that much tea all evening? We watched the sunset together and made all sorts of big plans for our new life together.

Perfect.