It just didn't make sense.
"Why did Brenden need his phone charger when we were going to be picking him up in 3 hours. AND it's 8:00 at night??"The kids were at Papaw Reck's for the evening and it seemed a bit strange that we had to go out of our way to drop off a phone charger. Who could that kid possibly be talking to??!? And in true Chris fashion, his response to me questioning him about it was "I told him that I'd do it and I'm going to honor my word".
Geez, how was I supposed to argue with that?!
We pulled in and hopped out of the truck -- phone charger in hand, of course. Grandma Sheri was watching a movie in the living room when we walked in. We chatted a minute or two (ironically about how nice Chris looked) when she told us that the kids and Papaw were "camping" in the backyard.
"You can just go thru the kitchen", she said. So, we did. I was leading the way and was kind of in a hurry....we had people waiting on us to celebrate me turning 33.
"SUUUURRRRPRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRISE!!!"
"What the ...what's going on???"I looked around and saw all of my closest friends, smiles plastered on their faces like they had just pulled off some top secret Oval Office mission. The kids had made me a huge homemade birthday sign with big 3's all over it and it was strategically hung on the kitchen cabinets. There were cards and lots of hugs.
I'm pretty good at picking up on things and I was clueless. No one slipped up and said anything. No one was acting funny.
Centered smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen table was an enormous birthday cake with two, big, candles in the shape of a 3.....and a hideous picture of me in a tap dance costume from when I was eight years old. Yeah, not the ideal picture to be on my birthday cake, but I'll give the man credit for making it special and unique. Plus, you can waiver some of the embarrassment for someone that went out of their way to surprise me. Besides, it IS pretty funny.
So, I sat down and opened up all of my cards preciously made by four little kids. OUR four kids, to be exact. And one from Papaw,Grandma, and Katie (the dog). And one from my amazing boyfriend.
There's an
episode of The Office where Jim and Pam are on the way to their wedding and talking about taking mental pictures so they don't forget anything. That's what I wanted to do right then, right there. I wanted to take the overflowing love I felt inside, bottle it up, and put it on a shelf where I could pop it open on my 80th birthday. I looked around me and saw all of these amazing people -- not only in MY life -- but also my girls lives now. I remember looking around and thanking God for them.
Chris interrupted me with "Do you want your gift now, or do you want to wait until tomorrow?" Since, technically, my birthday was the next day he could've easily made me wait. And before I could mutter the first syllable, he said "oh, you can have it now".
Delighted, of course, I sat there and was thrilled that I didn't have to wait another 24 hours for whatever was wrapped in that pretty red paper behind him. And, as he turned around to grab it off of the hutch it sat on, he knocked it to the floor.
To the
hardwood floor.
I could tell it was a glass of some sort and I could REALLY tell once it hit the floor.
"He broke it!...is it replaceable?.....what if the kids made it????" A thousand thoughts flooded my brain and my only hope was that no one was going to be upset.
"Please let it be okay. Please let it be in one piece."Chris hovered over it like a wounded kitten he was trying to heal. I couldn't see what kind of shape it was in (or what it was for that matter) so I stood up, hoping for a better view. In the seconds between me deciding to stand up to me actually standing on my two feet, Chris turned around and looked up at me.
On one knee.
One one knee with a tiny, black, box in his hand.
It was as if I were standing too close to a pizza oven. A hot flash from the wrinkles in my forehead to the polish on my pinky toes waved over me. My hands immediately covered my wide-open mouth. My eyes welled up with tears.
"Don't blink, your mascara will run", I told myself.
I watched his lips move but I can't tell you what he was saying. I was lost in the adoration for this man who made me a much better person. I was in love with what he brought to my life, our kids' lives, our friends' lives. I was in love with his genuine-ness, his heart, his passion, and his values. I was in love with the way he left me little notes. I was in love with the way he smelled. I was in love with the way he made me feel.
"YES!!! Of course, I will marry you!!!!"
I was crying, Taylor was crying and even Bryce was thrilled (and that's sayin' something!!).
I have had so many personal hurdles to jump the last year. I've had a complete life overhaul -- for the better. I've had hard issues that I had to face and overcome. I've rid my life of the people who didn't positively influence me or my kids. I've replaced those negative people with good-hearted, genuinely caring people. I can finally share the good people in MY life with someone that appreciates them as much as I do. People that love us and have our best interests at heart. People that care to give good, honest advice. People that are family. People that love unconditionally.
I did all of that with the help of this man that stands beside me. I am finally in a place where I am truly content....right where I'm supposed to be, with who I'm supposed to be with. Our family is magical and our love is effortless.
It's amazing how God makes two lives intersect that the perfect time. It is obvious to me that He had a plan all these years. There was a reason I had to go thru the heartaches, the bad relationships, and the emptiness. There was a reason why He put me on the path to see the good people in my life.
And that reason was Chris. And I, along with our kids, will forever be grateful.
I know they look like cows, but they were more like watch dogs. Reeeeeeeallllllly BIG, smelly, watch dogs.
Delicious late afternoon light makes me swoon! And it was even overcast part of the day.
