Proposals and rings: two stories.

Brian's wedding band, from Fable Designs; thank you, Magpie. xox

About a month ago, Brian’s ring finally came in at Magpie. If you’ve had your eye on the ‘No Brian Zone’, you know that the ring, given to us by Magpie Jewellery, was offered and accepted a while ago, but had to be made-to-order for his finger, which meant a fair wait. Magpie is my hands-down favourite jewellery store in the city, with super friendly staff, a wide array of brands, and the most contemporary styling available. That sounds like a plug, but I have loved this place for years and so it was really wonderful when they got involved with P:P. Anyway, I don’t know how I managed to keep it a secret (aside from sharing the news with thousands of strangers on the ‘No Brian Zone’, of course), but I did. I will even go so far as to say, I credit myself with having done a better job than Brian himself had done with keeping my engagement ring a surprise..which isn’t hard to top, as Brian left the receipt for my ring on the floor about two weeks before he gave me the ring. (For the record, I showed superhuman restraint that day and the moment I read the jeweller’s name at the top of the invoice, I folded it back up, pretended I’d just found it that moment, and handed it back to Brian while pretending I hadn’t opened it at all.)

Anyway, I knew Brian’s ring was on the way to Ottawa, and I knew I wanted to do something special for him. So the day it arrived, I picked it up from Magpie at the Rideau Centre and hurried home with it, and then I waited, impatiently, til after dinner, when I suggested we take a drive up to Gatineau Park. Gatineau is where Brian told me he loved me, later asked me out, and later proposed, so it seemed like the right place to go. The only thing was, I had to take him to the main lookout instead of the smaller one we usually go to, because it’s so dark down there that he’d never see the ring…and where’s the fun in that! So, up to Champlain lookout we went, about a half-hour drive on climbing, winding roads hugged by dense green forest, higher and higher up into the hills.

I remember that same drive, the day that Brian proposed. I was so certain he was going to pop the question, but never thought he’d do it up on the hill as I had told him long ago that, whatever the proposal was, it should be done with friends and family present. Short of having a group of loved ones meet us at the lookout, it didn’t seem likely that he’d propose up there. So I’d been able to relax, thinking that this was just another happy visit to our favourite nature spot, suspecting nothing.

But back to my story: we got out of the car that night, sprayed on some bug spray, and went to sit on the stone wall where you can see a phenomenal view of the city below. As usual, several groups of French teenagers were around, the lookout being a favourite place to hang out after dark. The day that Brian proposed, the usual gaggle of teens had been present as well and he’d tried so hard to wait for them to leave that I’d almost unwittingly ruined the whole proposal by demanding he take me somewhere warmer—Brian’s proposal was in October, on a crisp afternoon. I couldn’t wait ‘til October for my ring presentation, however, so we sat on the wall, in the dark, on a hot summer night, with rowdy youth and mosquitos providing the ambience. I laughed about it and pointed out that noisesome strangers seemed to be present at every special moment we shared. Brian laughed but didn’t get the hint, remaining oblivious to what I was about to do.

I remember that October afternoon, sitting in Brian’s arms and enjoying the day, when he suddenly suggested we get up and leave. I'd looked at him a little puzzled, and said sure, standing up and giving him one more hug before we headed out. That was when I felt his heart: it was pounding so hard, I could feel the pulsations with my hand against his chest, and could literally hear the beats from a distance. Immediately I began plotting out how to get him to the hospital from the middle of the woods, as obviously the boy was having a heart attack. While I was pondering the fastest route back to town, Brian began speaking and the words had a certain weight to them, a certain seriousness that doesn’t colour our usual chatter. He said he loved me, and he’d always loved me, and some other sweet things that were drowned out by the rush of blood in my ears as I realized what he was about to do…and deep down, a sad little voice said, but our friends and family  aren’t here! I shushed it, realizing in that moment that this was the best—no, the only place that Brian could and should ever do this. He got down on one knee and pulled out a little box, and said, “Just like I told your dad, I promise to love you and take care of you forever. Will you marry me, Jordan?”

I thought about that moment as we sat in the summer darkness, Brian’s new ring burning a hole in my pocket. I had him sit on the stone wall while I stood in front of him, and I thought of how eloquent he’d been that day, how he’d melted my heart with his avowals of love…and my mind went blank. I had no idea what I was going to say to him, now that it was my turn. I’d have a moment of inspiration, a tidbit of thought would fleet through my brain, and I’d say, “Okay,” aloud, followed by, “Oh, uh…oh,” as the thought would vanish again. And meanwhile, distracted by rowdy kids and mosquitoes, Brian was pretty much trying to get up and take me back to the car. The result was me, holding Brian down by the shoulders, and repeatedly muttering, “Okay…oh. Ohhhkaaaay….uh. Oh. Okay! Um.” Finally I held him in a hug for a moment, calmed myself down, and looked him in the eye.

“Brian,” I said, “I love you more than I can ever tell you. You are so special to me, and I’m so glad you found me. And just like I had you tell your mom, the first day she met me: no one past, present, or future loves you as much as I do.” I got down on one knee, pulled out the box, and said, “So I’d also like to ask you, will you marry me.” Brian smiled, and I slipped the ring onto his finger before he could see it, but he knew as he felt the unique soft finish of the metal…he looked down, saw that it was the ring from Magpie he’d been coveting for months, and choked up. I held him, kissing his messy hair, while he wept with sheer joy at this gift.

I should also note that Brian immediately said yes when I popped the question, and that during his proposal, I did not. In my defense, however, it wasn’t meant to be cruel; I’d simply been so shocked and amazed with him that the words in my brain hadn’t found their way out my mouth. Brian, down on one knee in the cold October mud, had had to startle me out of my stupor by sharply calling my name, and I had finally stammered out a ‘yes’. We hugged, and kissed, and I had stared at the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen, this ring shaped like a vine of ivy, so perfect for us and reminiscent of our special lookout. Eventually, Brian corralled me back into the car and drove me home to get changed for dinner, with a strict ‘no cell phone’ policy the whole way. Brian said he didn’t want to start announcing the news to people ‘til we’d had our intimate dinner together. I agreed (I was pretty agreeable at this point), and we got dressed before heading downtown to one of my favourite restaurants…where our friends and family were waiting for us. Incredible. Brian had found a way for us to have an intimate proposal at our favourite place, followed by the most wonderful announcement to our friends and family all in one fell swoop. Well done, sweet boy.

Both proposals went perfectly. Brian got to surprise me twice—once with the question, and again with the family dinner. I too got to surprise Brian twice—once with the question in return, and again with the ring of his dreams. It’s really too bad that we only propose the once, because I have so many ideas of how I’d do it again and again, and I know Brian would, too. Maybe we will just propose to each other every year. I don’t really care how crazy that looks, I’m just really happy that I have someone I love so much, I want to tell him ‘yes’ over and over again.