The Proposal

Our holidays are always hectic. This year was no different. Christmas eve we drove to my parents house to spend some holiday time with them. My Dad just had a knee replacement two weeks before. My brothers and I decided to spread out our visits so that we wouldn't overwhelm my parents and allow my Dad to recuperate. We had a great time and I went to mass with my Mom. After Mass, Mom and I went and picked up a pizza at Capri's then headed home. We ate and we exchanged presents then watched TV. It was a nice quiet holiday night. Brian and I went to bed in our seperate rooms. I set my alarm for 8am looking forward to Christmas.

Christmas morning, Brian and I had to leave early so that we could exchange presents with Scott, Brian's older brother. We got up and said our good byes and headed out on our very long day. We got to Scott's house about 10am. Sam, our puppy, was very excited to see us. We made ourselves omelets while Scott went upstairs to wrap our presents. After eating, we went into the living room next to the tree and started exchanging presents. It was a very good year for all of us in the presents department. We bundled up our goodies and loaded Sam into the car. Brian and I headed home to unload and continue on to our next destination, Aunt Eileen and Uncle Walter's house.

It was a going to be very exciting Christmas. Alicia was there with her fiance, Ben. Andrea brought her boyfriend, James, to meet the family. We were enjoying each other's company while waiting for Scott and the Fahlbecks to arrive. When they did, we started setting up the table for the presents. Brian's family does a modified Yankee swap instead of exchanging presents. Everyone brings three presents. Numbers are then passed out and the choosing begins. Once all of the gifts were taken, we set the table for dinner. Dinner is always enjoyable. Conversations flow and the food is always amazing. After dinner, Auntie Eileen and Uncle Walter headed out to the McSwiney's and the rest of us started discussing movie options. Brian and I opted out since we were both tired.

We headed home and started to settle into our couch for some serious vegging out. I was sitting on the couch watching TV and thinking that this was a very good year but it would have been better if we could have announced to everyone we were engaged. Oh well. I knew not to expect a ring on Christmas since Brian said he would never propose on a holiday. There was always tomorrow and the new year was still a week away. Maybe he would do between now and then. He had my birthstone ring for almost two months now so he must be getting close to asking.

Brian got up and went into our office. I figured he was going to check his emails. I continued flipping through the channels trying to find something to watch. Brian came back and sat down. He pulled out a box and said, "I know you've been waiting for your ring for a while now." I opened it up and there was my birthstone ring all cleaned up and sparkly. As I gushed over how beautiful it looked, Brian handed me another box. "But I think you would rather wear this one" he said. It was a bronze box with a soft pale yellow ribbon on it. I slipped the ribbon off and opened the box. Inside was a white leather box. My heart started pounding and my eyes started tearing. I opened the white box and inside was a beautiful heart shaped diamond with two light blue topaz stones on either side. I kept gushing saying Oh Brian, Oh Brian. I looked him in the eyes and said, 'my answer is yes by the way" and I hugged and kissed him.

I called my Mom and Dad right away to tell them the good news. They were extremely tired but were excited for Brian and I. Ronnie and Martha were at the house and got on the phone to congratulate us. Next, I called my brother Keith and his wife, Pam. Pam shrieked in the phone as she heard the news. She knew I had been waiting for a long time for this and was ecstatic. I asked her if she would be my Maid of Honor. She said yes without hesitating.

The next day I was the happiest girl in the world. I asked Brian if he told Scott yet. Brian said no. I told him he needed to call Scott and tell him. Brian did call and got Scott's voicemail. He left a message saying "Hi Scott, it's Brian. I'm engaged. I'll talk to you later. Bye." I was not privy to this message until a few days later when we went out to dinner with Scott and his girlfriend, Jill.

We had made plans to meet Brian's family at the Lowe's theater in Boston Common. We headed out to catch the T at Alewife. Brian and I were a bit early so we decided to walk around the common. I asked Brian again if he had talked to his brother. Brian said, "No, I left him a messge." I was appalled. I was not going to announce our engagement until Scott knew. I expressed this to Brian. His response was "Call him." So I did. I got Scott and asked him if he heard the voicemail. He said he had and was a bit confused. I told him, "we're engaged." I handed the phone off to Brian. Scott had a barrage of questions for Brian. We were getting close to the theater so Brian got off the phone. I talked to Brian and asked him how he would like to announce it. Brian being so enthusiastic said he didn't care. I came up with the brilliant plan of let's see how long it takes for people to notice the new bauble on my finger.

We got to the theater and waited for the family. I was trying to talk with my hands as much as possible but nobody was noticing. We got into the theater. I managed to end up on the left side of everyone. How frustrating. I didn't want to be too obvious and sitting on the left was hard. At one point, I even turned around in my seat and started talking to the family members in the back row with my hands to no avail. The movie was starting so I sat down, frustrated.

After the movie, we started to walk to get something to eat. Again, I started talking with my hands but nobody was noticing. We arrived at a restaurant that had a table that could fit all of us. Brian noticing my frustration said, "I think you're going to have to do something more drastic". I turned to him and said on the loud side, "I know. I don't know what else to do except wave my hand around" while waving my hand. Finally, I just put my hand up my head down saying, "I wonder if anyone will notice this". Alicia started to look at my hand and asked, "Is that what I think it is?" I said, yes!!! She then asked, "Are you going to announce it?" I looked at her and said that I wanted to see how much longer it would take for people to notice. She asked if it would be alright to make a toast at dinner. I told her if no one has noticed by then, than by all means go right ahead. At this point, Florence got a hint something was going on. She asked us what was going on. Ben turned to her and said, "Look at her finger." Florence looked and said, "is that?" I said, "Yes" Jean then learned of the ring. Our half of the table erupted in shrieks. The table next to ours jumped and asked if everything was okay. Jean told them everything was fine and that they had just learned about an engagement. Champagne was ordered and everyone was told the story. It was a very fun night.

About two weeks later, I was reflecting back on the proposal and realized that Brian had not actually said "will you marry me". I went up to him and pointed that out. He smiled slyly and said, "I was wondering when you'd figure that one out." I made him ask me right than and there. I then asked him if he was planning on holding that over my head. Again he smiled and said, yup. So this was how our proposal came about.