more of a suggestion

"You want to marry me, don't you?"

The words were out of my mouth before I had even finished the thought. 

It was March 29, 2006. What was I thinking? We'd only been dating, maybe, 3 months. And here I was blurting out the first thing that came into my head. 

We were standing in the cold, snow falling lightly around us, while we admired the Sundance Resort in Utah. Somehow the words had came into my mind so forcefully and truthfully that I couldn't stop myself from saying them. I knew they were true, just like I knew he loved me before he'd ever said it. 

Luck was on my side that night. He chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I do. But we have time for that. What about you?" I could barely nod as I said, "I think I want to marry you too."

I thought at the time that it wasn't a true proposal. No one had gotten down on one knee with a ring but it had definitely defined the rest of our relationship. From that moment on, we knew what we were working towards. 

Not too long after, I took him down to Arizona to meet my parents. They loved him right away. But the true test in my book was the 10 hours spent driving there, the 3 days with my family and the 10 hours driving back. As we pulled into his driveway after that extremely long weekend I realized I still wasn't done being near him. I adored his company above all others and he had truly become my best friend. It was a major eye-opener for me and a test of our relationship. 

 

The official proposal with the ring came a few months later. It was sweet and mostly unexpected. He had even called my father for permission. 

 

Like I said, the later proposal was sweet but I still recall most fondly that cold, snowy night when I couldn't keep my thoughts to myself. That's when I knew I could spend eternity with this man.