Engaged!

Engaged!

Gail’s side:

To put it frankly, I’ve been hounding Mike for years about getting married.  He would always reply, “But to me, we are married!”  I would agree, but retort that it wasn’t quite the same thing.  However, I knew it was only a matter of time!  I enjoy being with him and I’m definitely not the type to give an ultimatum.  So I waited, waited…

Finally, in August, when we were visiting his parents in the Poconos, he popped the question.  The night before we had gone out for a drink at one of Mike’s old hangouts.  A friend of his stopped by and she kept saying how she couldn’t believe we were together so long and not married.  At one point, Mike stood up suddenly and made her walk away from the table with him.  As soon as they returned, I knew they had been discussing the engagement!

The next morning, I noticed he was a bit distracted all morning, but I thought it was just that agitation we all get when we’ve been home with our parents after a few days…come on, we all get this!  Then, out of the blue, he said, “Let’s go for a walk by the river.”  There is a gorgeous river that travels through his parents’ back yard.  I said, “Let’s go later, it looks like it’s going to rain.”  And generally gave him a hard time before relenting.  As we left the house, a neighbor stopped us to say hello.  We chatted with him for a bit and I saw that Mike was still a bit distracted.

So, we went on our way.  Part of the way there, I noticed some neat branch/moss formations.  I hadn’t brought my camera, but I thought I noticed a bulge in Mike’s pocket.  So I said, “Honey, do you have your camera?  I’d like to take a picture.”  He felt in his pocket all nervous-like and said no.

I thought to myself how strange that was…And then got nervous myself!  Could it be that there was something else of importance in that pocket??  As we neared a particular spot at the water’s edge, Mike suddenly turned around and said, “I can’t wait any longer, will you spend your life with me?”  He had produced the ring and I said yes!

Engagement Location

Mike’s Side:
I discovered Gail Anderson while on vacation. She was severely sunburned and redder than a cooked New England lobster. We had a great chat at a local pub with her friends and family. Later that evening we had dinner and Gail and I hit it off. Gail is the coolest, smartest person I have ever met. I never thought she would want to hang out with me because we were very different. But our differences balance each other and make our relationship very exciting. Traveling to my parents home in August for my Dad’s birthday party, I decided to ask Gail to marry me. Three days were packed with distractions. Everything from my friends seemingly knowing about my upcoming proposal, to neighbors wanting to talk, to strange hummingbirds mistaking me for a flower. Finally, I convinced Gail to take a walk with me by the waterfall where I used to hang out growing up. Finally, I turned and asked her in a hurry because I did not know what else would delay my proposal. Maybe the Bernstein Bears would come out to see what was going on. Thankfully she accepted my proposal and I was not hit by lightning. I cannot wait until May 14th, and we are very excited. I could not have a stronger person in my life and have been blessed with her presence and unconditional love.