When a Boy and a Girl Meet

What’s the biggest decision you’ve ever had to make? When you were in high school, it was, “What college do I want to go to next year. When you were in college, it was, “What am I going to major/minor in?” If you’re in my shoes, it’s the decision of, “Will you marry me?” That’s right, a month ago, we took the step towards matrimony: we got engaged.

He has always been such a sweet man throughout our courtship and to this day, constantly and consistently surprising me with little gifts (a necklace from Belize, a trip to Build-a-Bear, flowers at least once a week, etc.). He also likes to take me on, what we call “fancy dates”, where we dress up in nice clothes, him a suit, and me a dress, and we go out to dinner. I am so spoiled!

Well, on April Fool’s Day, it all came together: He had invited me on a “fancy date”, so I got all dressed up. He told me he had a surprise for me. Now, any other woman would’ve put two and two together, but I didn’t! The thought never crossed my mind that the date was a set-up, and the “surprise” was a dainty diamond ring! Call me naïve, but I was clueless! …

He showed up at my door in his suit, striking and handsome. I wore a little T-length chocolate dress with a cream ribbon around my waist, pearls clasped at my throat and dangling from my ears. He helped me into my coat, and we meandered out my front door and into his car. Then he got really quiet. “So?” you might say. “What’s so weird about that?” The reason I was attracted to this man in the first place was because of his conversation skills: we could talk, and about practically anything. The conversation never lagged that I can remember until that moment. I asked him about his day at work. He explained how he had been working hard and that led me to conclude the reason he was not his usual talkative self: he was tired.

We pulled up to Chef’s Table, a very expensive “fancy date” restaurant on the border of Provo and Orem, and he reached behind my chair and pulled out a little Teddy Bear.

“I brought a friend with us,” he said. She was a beautiful little thing, with sandy fur, milky ears and muzzle, wearing a pretty yellow sun dress.

“What’s her name?” I asked (all Teddy Bears have names, you know)

“I didn’t give her one so that you could name her,” he said. I thought that was so precious! I also thought that the surprises would end there but I thought wrong on that head…