Seven Day Mile

This is going to be sappy...just a warning

This last Saturday night Jeff asked me to marry him.
And of course, I said yes.

Or rather, I screamed yes.
Along with quite a few "Oh my God!"s

The entire night was perfect.
Perfect.

Not because we went to all the right places (although we did)
Or because he said all the right things (although he did)

But because everything about the night was personalized, in some way connected to us, and reflected just how well he knows me.

A few years ago I took Jeff out for his birthday.
I took him to Gejas, a fondue restaurant in the city.
Afterwards I took him on a carriage ride and gave him a little book I had made of all the things I loved about him.

That night was the first night I told him I was falling in love with him.

Saturday night we revisited Gejas.
When we were finished he said he wanted to go to a bar he knew of close to his work.
We instead ended up at the horse-drawn carriages.

We got into the carriage and he said that he had recreated our evening from years ago.
I replied yes, and that I thought it was very sweet.

He then said that he had recreated something else.
And out of his jacket he pulled a handmade book of all the things he loved about me.

Damn.

I immediately started to cry.

When I got to the end of the book I looked at him and he said, "It didn't all fit into one book" and he handed me a second book.

By the time I got to the end of the second book I could barely see, I was crying so much.

But I could make out him starting to move to get onto his knee.

And suddenly everything and nothing changed.

I don't remember even looking at the ring...just grabbing his face and screaming yes.
And the rest of the carriage ride is a blur.

We got out and Jeff announced to the driver that we were engaged to which the driver replied, "Yeah, I figured that's what was going on from all the screaming."

As I made a phonecall home to my parents and my sister I was too distracted to realize that Jeff was leading me somewhere else. Before I knew it we were in some strange building, getting on an elevator.

When the doors opened we were at a bar overlooking the city and Krissy and Pat were waiting there with champagne to celebrate.

I can't imagine a more perfect night.
Jeff nailed it. Which I've told him a thousand times since then.

The whole thing reminded me of how we got together in the first place.

Years ago I had gotten angry because I thought Jeff had been telling people we were together when we weren't.

I told him that he was not my boyfriend, that he better not be telling people that, and when it came down to it he didn't even really know me.

A few weeks later I received a package in the mail from him for my 21st birthday.

There was a copy of a story referenced in one of my favorite movies
There was a music review that he had written containing a private joke we had
And there was a cd he had made me with music I had never heard of

The cd had the most amazing music on it.

And as I sat looking at the package he had sent, I realized that even after I had given him the brush off he had still taken the time to send me something- and that the gift was the most personalized, thoughtful present I had ever received from someone.

This guy did know me.
Not only that, he was interested in getting to know me better, even after I had tried to shut the whole thing down.

I listened to the beautiful music and realized that this was in fact someone that I wanted to get to know better.

That was the beginning.

Years ago his thoughtfulness and creativity are what made me finally wake up and realize the possibilities of us together.

This last weekend those same qualities reaffirmed what I've known the entire time we've been together...that this is the man I am meant to spend the rest of my life with.

I'm just happy and blessed.