Love in London
At this time last year, Rob and I were preparing for our 6 month trip to Europe. My parents were worried about our safety, but they were also concerned that they were going to lose their “little girl.” As we walked away and headed towards security at the airport we heard my dad’s voice, “Remember you don’t have permission!” Getting engaged had been a repetitive discussion that was always turned down, but Rob and I had decided: we were getting engaged in Europe. I didn’t want to know when or where, but I knew that at some point it would happen. I would sit with my best friend and we’d talk about the different places Rob might pick: on the white sands beach in Mallorca, in a castle in Germany, at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, or maybe in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Spain…my imagination ran wild with ideas. Gretchen convinced me that it wouldn’t happen though until late in the trip because Rob loves to keep me in suspense. So I wasn’t expecting anything that New Year’s Eve day, 3 days into our European adventure. We had just arrived in London, England and we hadn’t slept in 24 hours. I was tired and grumpy but Rob was upbeat and encouraging. He convinced me that we should have the best seats in the house since we didn’t know when we would ever get this opportunity again. So at 6pm we left for the Waterloo Bridge. We hunkered down in the very middle of that bridge and waited til midnight for the magic to begin. As the clock struck 12 and the explosions of lights and music filled the air, I heard a whisper in my ear. With his arms wrapped around me, and hands intertwined, I hear his comforting voice, “My New Years resolution is to spend the rest of my life with you.” As he slipped the ring on my finger I finally realized what was happening. Then my screaming voice joined the thousands of others as I proclaimed, “YES! YES!!”
