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Joe’s dad gave us his camera card last weekend so we could import some of his wedding photos. While we were browsing through pictures we found a VIDEO of Joe’s proposal at our housewarming party a year ago. Baffled, we watched the video and squealed with nervous delight as I stood – at the urging of Joe – in the middle of our living room and obliviously thanked everyone for attending our party. Of course almost everyone in that room knew what was coming except me. How they all managed to keep their mouths shut I’ll never know. How I, a journalist with extraordinarily perceptive spidey senses, managed to not figure out it I’ll never know.
It was without a doubt, the greatest surprise of my life.
Have you ever been so surprised your heart falls out out of your chest and flops like a fish on the floor? Have you ever been so shocked you lose all ability to express yourself? The muscles in your face and the chemicals in your brain fail to communicate, or they simply communicate too much, causing what country folks refer to as a deer-in-headlights reaction? If you’ve ever been there, you know what I mean.
I witnessed this first hand when my mother threw my father a surprise 50th birthday party last December in North Collins. My sisters and I were all there, hiding in the shadows of a banquet hall, waiting for our father to walk unknowingly into his own belated birthday party, a party he thought was for my mother’s 2nd cousin. PK and I of course flew from Florida to be there and I swear when we ran out screaming “SURPRISE,” my father looked like he was going to faint.
Joe and I rarely talked about marriage during our courtship. We started dating in March. Got an apartment together in November and bought a house one year later. We weren’t the kind of couple that fantasized about our wedding. We never tossed around dates or looked at engagement rings. I never told him whether I preferred one cut of diamond over another and he never asked. There were other less serious things to do and talk about, so instead we did and talked about those things.
Until Nov. 22, 2008, when Joe pulled out his great-grandmother’s wedding ring and asked me to marry him in front of everyone we knew. It was better this way. I trust my gut better than I trust any other part my body, so when I said yes I meant it.
His parents were in the living room too that night and apparently someone recorded the whole thing. We had no clue the video existed until three nights ago. I hope you find it as suspenseful as we do!
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In other news …
- Remember Ricci and Mbaye? They’re getting married Dec. 12, 2009 in Dakar, Senegal. Way to go, R&M!
- Tomorrow Joe’s brother Phil, Terrence Duncan and Alex Pickett will embark on a one-month, cross-country documentary filmmaking project. For all the wildly creative and inspiring details, visit routesmusic.com. Way to go, PTA!