Last Saturday evening, while standing in the check-out line at the new Trader Joe’s, Dave and I were trying to mentally determine the most efficient path out of the new shopping center parking lot (which is one of the most poorly designed I’ve seen lately). I reached into my purse to check one of my navigation apps and noticed I’d missed a text message.
I moved the green puzzle piece down to the lock and opened a photo of a delicate hand sporting a shiny engagement ring. Under the photo were the word, “Surprise! Jan and I are engaged!”
We’d been waiting a long time to hear those words (or see them) and we couldn’t be happier. Jan is a good match for our Maggie. When she first brought him home, he seemed too good to be true. I pulled Maggie aside and asked, “Okay, what’s wrong with him?” It wasn’t that Jan showed any signs of obvious flaws, but because he seemed perfect; just the kind of guy you want your daughter to bring home. From the beginning, I hoped we could keep him, and now we can!
This Friday, on our way home from Thanksgiving festivities in Suffolk, we stopped in Richmond to get together with Jan’s family to celebrate our children’s engagement.
It has been clear for a while that Jan’s parents, Arved and Teresa, have been waiting for this moment in the same joyful anticipation as Dave and I. Last Thanksgiving, when we were all together at our house, Teresa and I shared moments in quiet conspiracy washing dishes and comparing notes, looking for signs of any upcoming nuptuals. We knew it was bound to happen, we just didn’t know when. So, we have spent the last year with hopeful resignation of children waiting for Santa to finally pop down the chimney.
And now it has happened! The ring has been given and accepted, the search for the perfect dress has begun and a date at the venue is about to be set. Our dreams have come true and this chapter of the fairy tale is about to end. And what better way to end it than with a kiss!
