Engagement!

Camille's story:

About a week before Matt proposed he'd asked me to set aside some time on Saturday for us to go on a date. My parents were supposed to come in town so, I asked him if we could just do a small afternoon lunch or something so that I could spend time with them as well. He said that was fine and the date was set. A couple days later, Matt told me that his brother Cody and his girlfriend, Elizabeth would be joining us on our date. So, any hint that I had that he would propose was ruined by the fact that our single date was now a double date.

On July 21, 2007 at around 3:00 p.m., Matt picked me up for our date. When I walked outside I noticed that Cody and Elizabeth were not in the car. I asked Matt about it and he said that Cody had had a long night and was too tired to do anything. I accepted his response and shrugged it off. Before I go any further, I must say that the summer of 2007 will probably go down in history as one of the rainiest summers in Dallas history. So, when he picked me up it was of course raining. Matt had already made plans to go to the Dallas Arboretum but, since it was raining he suggested that we go to the Dallas World Aquarium. Neither of us had been to the aquarium so, it sounded like fun.

After spending about two hours at the aquarium, Matt asked if I was hungry and wanted to go to dinner. I said yes and we proceeded to the restaurant or so I thought. Matt lives in Carrollton and I live in Irving so, we usually end up staying north of the I 635 line on the weekends because of traffic and rising gas prices. So, when we left the aquarium I expected us to head North. Instead, Matt drove in the direction of the Arboretum which is East of Dallas. I started to get confused and asked him why we were going so far out of the way. He said that his directions to the restaurant he'd chosen orginated from the Arboretum so he needed to start from there. I believed him and as we made our way to the Arboretum we started to pass White Rock Lake. Having never been there I told him how beautiful it was and he turned into the entrance to show me the lake and his cycling path. We drove alongside the lake until the street ended and he pulled over to the side to park. He unbuckled his seat belt and started to get out of the car and I asked, "Are we getting out?" he said, "Yes". Thinking it was weird, I got out of the car and followed him to a picnic bench at the edge of the lake. It was gorgeous and by this point the rain had ended and the sun was shining brightly above us. He sat me down and reached into his pocket to pull out a letter. He handed it to me and said that he wanted to give it to me in a secluded place. I read his sweet words and thought to myself, "Is he going to propose in the letter?" Having found no proposal or hint of a proposal in the letter and feeling a little silly for expecting it, I folded it up. As I turned to thank him for it he said, "I have something else for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little black box and opened it. He then said, "Will you be my wife?" I said yes and screamed I think and told him how beautiful the ring was and we hugged and cried. We sat in silence for a while soaking in the whole experience and listening to the water beat against the rocks. He told me how nervous he had been and how he'd spoken to my father days before. Before we got up to leave he prayed for us and our future together.

We still went out to eat and the restaurant he chose was the same one we went to on our first date, Antonio's Ristorante. After dinner, my sister and friends had planned an engagement party for us at his parents house. It was a great time and I couldn't have planned it any better.




Matt's story:

I had originally planned on asking Camille to marry me in the beginning of the summer. I have a friend who works for Zales and the ring I wanted for her, and that I knew she wanted, was an antique style that is usually not carried in the stores. Rather than ordering online, I went through Brinson. I contacted him in May, asking him about the wider selection available to him and the process of ordering with him at the warehouse instead of doing the custom building on the website. I had no idea how complicated it would become back then.

Brinson told me first that I needed to find the ring online, get him the SKU number, which is the only way that he could find it in their supply, and then he would find it for me. I found the customization tool on the website, picked a ring style and a diamond, and sent him an email. It was very easy, but then he called me a few days later and told me the long succession of serial and organizational numbers I sent him did not include the SKU.

I spent the next two months figuring a way to get the SKU, which was nearly impossible because the website did not have it and the stores did not carry it. At one point in June we thought we had it, or at least something very close to what I wanted. He put in the order only to find out that setting was out of stock. We waited a few days for another shipment to arrive. It came in, but without my setting. It would be another month before it was available again.

I began looking at other rings that were similar and checking the stores again. Settling for something less was the last thing I wanted to do, but I was at a loss for a way to get the ring that I knew she wanted. Camille had not told me that she must have a specific type. She even told me at one point that if money was an issue for me, and I was wanting to ask her otherwise, than she would be happy with “something small.” I told her thank you for being so wonderful, but in my mind I had resolved to get her a ring that would be meaningful and special. She was definitely not pushy or high maintenance, but I knew she wanted something that was outside the norm, something that would stand out and become, not a ring, but “Camille’s ring.” She was worth it and I resolved to take longer to ask if it was necessary.

There were other problems that arose with ordering and money. More issues arose with what was in stock, and I had to choose something that was not exactly the one I had originally chosen. Then a bonus check I had been waiting on came in half of what I expected. Without going into all the details, let me just say that God intervened over and over again. I saw the ring for the first time the day before I asked her. It was scary to go into the night before with that significant unknown, but Brinson did a great job. I owe him a huge gratitude. It was even better than I expected. Looking at it made me glad I wasn’t able to get the original. Thank you, God. I remember sitting in bed and staring at the ring, thinking, “I can’t believe I’m going to ask her tomorrow.”

The next morning came and I woke up hours before I needed to get ready and my heart rate was already very high. It was July 21st. I had told her before that I would pick her up at three with Cody. He and I would get her, then Elizabeth, and go on a special date that the two of us had planned. I had gone on reconnaissance to the Dallas Arboretum earlier that week and picked out a perfect spot. There was a small area called the poetry garden that had high stone walls going up all four sides, laced with ivy. All around the walls and in the center were beautiful plants and flowers and, in the center against a wall, was a little bench. I pictured the two of us sitting there on Saturday.

Now Saturday, I sat in my room writing a letter. Because of the love we both have for writing, I thought it would be meaningful to use a letter in my proposal. It didn’t contain the question itself, I wanted to ask that verbally, but it told her how much I loved her. I purposefully leave the details out here. I like the idea of my words staying private between us. My idea was to give it to her on the cast iron bench in the poetry garden. When she was done, I would give her the ring and ask her to be my wife. It was a perfect plan.

There were two things that I felt must happen for the proposal to be perfect. One, I wanted to be in nature. I didn’t want to be in the car, in a museum, or my house. I felt that we needed to be surrounded by God’s creation, hence the garden. I also felt that we must be alone. Some men pop the question at baseball games or in restaurants, but that wouldn’t suit us. I wanted to be able to sit together afterward and be completely together without the distraction of the congratulations, which still have not stopped almost two weeks later.

I finished the letter and went outside, planning on taking my filthy car to be washed. The inside was clean, like always, but I hadn’t washed the outside in over a month because of the incessant rain. I backed out of my driveway, moved the shifter to drive, and saw a raindrop hit my windshield. For a moment I simply paused and stared as more and more water fell from the sky. This couldn’t be happening. I wanted to ask her in a garden. I needed the rain to stop. I did not really have a backup plan. I had thought of the Dallas Aquarium (I had never seen it before, even in pictures) as a good place to go see the nature I wanted, but I had no idea if it would be crowded or not. I had also thought about White Rock Lake a few times, but it is also outside. My heart started beating even faster.

I saw her a little after three, characteristically a few minutes late. Almost immediately, I explained how Cody had overslept and that he was just going to stay in with Elizabeth and watch some movies. We discussed how lame it was that he bailed on us as we walked to the car. I also quickly brought up my plan for the day. I told her that Cody and I had planned on taking her and Elizabeth to the Arboretum, but there was so much rain that I was sure it would be closed. I asked her if she would like to go the museum, or the aquarium… She said she didn’t care where. I chose the aquarium for us, which I read online had a rainforest area, and off we were.
Then something amazing happened. It stopped raining. As we drove through Coppell it was sunny and warm, appearing to dry up a little. There was a possibility we might make the Arboretum anyway, and I wouldn’t have a heart attack from trying to create our date on the fly. I was thanking God for the sun as we veered off of 114 and onto 35. Then a torrent of rain fell on us. It was raining even harder in downtown than it had been at home that morning. Onto the aquarium.

I still had no idea what the aquarium would be like, so I put the ring in one pocket and the letter in another. Even when we stood in a line long enough we couldn’t see the front of it, I still hoped that there would be some hideaway inside that was picturesque and private enough, and dry enough, to accommodate a memorable moment.

I had no such luck. The aquarium was amazing, but it was extremely crowded. The first forty five minutes we were there, we waited for space to move between every step. There was a humongous amount of people. Families, old people, strollers, and every other form of slow pedestrian sandwiched us as we walked. The animals and the aesthetics were wonderful, but not romantic. Our experience there was actually quite nice. I only paint it in a bad light because it did not fit my scheme and, again, my heart was beating out of my chest. The wonderful thing about it was being there with Camille. Sometime during our visit I calmed down. I was enjoying being with her so much that I couldn’t allow any room for being upset or anxious. It was especially joyful for me knowing what was coming and thinking about our continued experiences like that one. I quit worrying because she is so wonderful.

We had to leave eventually and I had to take my head out of the clouds. At five they closed down, and we were out shortly after that. It was time for me to think again. Somewhere between the exit doors and the car I decided we would go to White Rock Lake. It had stopped raining and there were places that were pleasing enough to rest in. I told her something about writing the directions down from the Arboretum and that I needed to go there to figure out how to get to the restaurant. I was surprising myself with how easily I was making up all these stories and how adroitly I was delivering them.

As we drove around the Lake I pointed out different places where I rode my bike that I wanted to show her eventually. Very nonchalantly, the car veered off the main road and onto the one circling the lake. I kept talking about the Lake and the path and cycling so she would not have an opportunity to ask me why we were on this unexplained route. In my head I was hoping and searching for some place to jump out at me. I needed vacant and aesthetically beautiful.

I have no idea how long I drove around, but eventually I found it. There was a little picnic table, under the shade of the tree, removed from the trail, and right on the lake. At my most debonair, I pulled off to the side and said, “Well, let’s get out.” Again, I was moving or talking in order to keep her from asking questions.

We shut the doors and I ask her to come sit at the table with me. When we sat down I told her that I written her a letter and wanted to give it to her when we were alone. I handed it to her, amazed that everything had worked out so far. The sun was shining warm on us. A gentle breeze made quiet waves roll up the bank at our feet. I watched her read and was amazed, as I always am, at how beautiful she looked. The note sat in her lap while she read peacefully, softly grasping it on both sides.

When she finished, she looked up at me with a precious face and a thank you. I had already slipped the box out of my pocket and into my hand. I turned to face her and said, “I also want to ask you…,” I hesitated, opening up the box in front of her, “if you would marry me?” She brought her hands to her face and breathed out an excited yes. While she cried lightly, what she assures me were tears of joy, I reached for her hand and slipped the ring onto her finger.

Later I took her to the restaurant where we had our first date. It, too, was a wonderful time. Just before we left we prayed, thanking God for everything we could imagine and imploring him to bless our future marriage. But for the moment, before all of that, we just sat there together, embracing, talking about the future, and loving a perfect afternoon.