Memories

I hope you enjoy this.... I came across it today and had to share.


My Engagement Account by Adam Burgess

I am very picky when it comes to selecting the perfect diamond engagement ring. I started looking for the ring when I got home from Afghanistan last December. I would go about 1-2 times a month and get familiar with the diamond. I looked at nearly a million different stones until I could tell just by looking at them if it was a good one or a bad one. I got serious about shopping in February. I went at least once a week to a couple of jewelers in Fayetteville, Gaffney, Spartanburg, and Anderson with which I felt most secure. My biggest fears were getting a bad ring or not getting one that would accent the beauty of my wife-to-be. I wouldn’t buy a ring until I felt deep down that it would be perfect for Emily.

The first of March, I was ready to buy. By this time, I was one of the paramount scholars in the field of gemology, specializing in the diamond. I felt sure that I was closing in on Emily’s diamond, so I made the decision that I would not rest until I owned her ring. I went to Carlyle and Co. Jewelers that cold, clear night with the intention of describing the ring of my dreams and having them search the world over for it. Little did I know that fate was staring me in the face. I was showing the jeweler what I wanted, and when I found her ring, I was drawn to it. I held the ring in the light, examined it under a microscope, compared it to other less fortunate diamonds that just couldn’t stand up to the beauty and potential that this diamond had for my beautiful Emily. One problem that I had with this diamond was that it was clothed with a yellow gold band. I had envisioned the ring wearing a pure, white garment. My jeweler ensured me that my diamond would look stunning with a band of white gold. I could have never believed that the diamond I was holding could look any clearer or more dazzling than it did in the store that night. I immediately bought the token of love for my darling Emily with the intent of having it transformed into an even more impressive show of love. I would have to wait 10 days to see the work of art.

During the long wait, I had to take a few more steps before I could be engaged to marry my sweetheart. I had to first ask for her hand in marriage. That would be the hardest step in the process. Greg McCraw has the most amazing daughter on the face of the Earth. I thought long and hard about it, and I was afraid that he knew the prize that the Lord had given him and wouldn’t be willing to part with her. That thought tormented me for a while. I also wanted to be able to plead my case in an official, non-threatening way. I needed to spend some time with him and gain his trust and confidence before I could be so bold as to ask for his daughter with the intent of marriage. One problem stood in my way. As a paratrooper in the 82d Airborne Division, I am not afforded the opportunity to go home at my leisure. I waited a couple of weeks in hopes that I would be able to rush home one weekend and talk to the man who at the moment stood between my love and me. Time slowly became my enemy and I had to act quickly. I accepted plan “B”, although it was not my favorite choice. I took a deep breath and took the plunge that would change my life forever. I picked up the phone and called him while Emily was working one night. Small talk between men who are expecting the inevitable is very quick and awkward. Since I had the element of surprise in my favor, I knew I had to act fast to be able to maintain the upper hand. So I said a quick, sincere prayer and the winds of fate blew my way. I stumbled upon a segue way that led me into the moment of truth. He asked me when I was going to get to come home. I found my opening and jumped through it. “Well, that is actually the reason I am calling. It is going to be a while before I can come home, and I wanted to call and ask your permission to marry Emily?”

The short pause felt like an eternity as he pondered the much-anticipated question. “Absolutely,” he began, “I would be honored for you to marry Emily.” Just like that, the burden was lifted and our conversation lightened up. Greg went on to express his desire to always be there for us and his interest in our financial well-being. The whole conversation lasted about 5 minutes, but seemed like an eternity. The man I feared was now my comrade.

The next issue was how to propose. With a week left before I would see my unsuspecting girlfriend, and a few days before I would get the ring back, I had to devise a plan. I wanted the day to be one that we would never forget. I wanted everything perfect and magical. I decided that I would ask her on the beach during one of the walks that we both loved so much. I planned the day out to perfection. As hard as she tried, Emily would not able to penetrate my cunning plans.

The time had come to pick up the small token of my love for my Princess. I went to the jeweler’s after work on Thursday, a week before the long-awaited moment. He presented me with a work of art that words cannot explain. I remembered the shimmering beauty of a diamond from a week ago, but I was not prepared for the transformation that it took. Like a caterpillar breaking free from its cocoon as an alluring butterfly. I held this ring, and I knew that its next adaptation would add even more beauty. In three days, it would go from being just another diamond ring to Emily’s Diamond Engagement Ring! I floated away from the jewelry store and couldn’t wait to show my friends, my family away from home, the ring that would change two lives forever. When I arrived at Jeremy and Amber’s, they were stunned that little ole me could find such an amazing ring. I then proceeded to give them my plan for the engagement night.

Emily arrived in Fayetteville on Tuesday, though I wouldn’t see her until Wednesday afternoon. My Battalion had an Airborne Operation planned, so I wouldn’t be off work until early Wednesday morning. It was Emily’s Spring Break from school, so it was going to be wonderful to have her all to myself all week. I was supposed to have Friday off of work, but some last minute business made me work for half of the day. I am often sporadic, and I told her that I still wanted to go Myrtle Beach even though we would only be able to spend half a day there. Emily reluctantly agreed to my request. As long as we were together, she didn’t really care what we did. When I got off work, we got ready and started on the path to the rest of our lives.

Since I was on a 2-hour recall in my Battalion, I realized that I was taking a huge risk in going to the beach. In order to pull off a successful and worry-free trip, I had to have an inside source to give me a heads up in case something happened. John, my old roommate was just that person. I told him my plan, and let him know that I planned to be home by 10:00pm on Friday night. Since a call from him meant bad news, I told him not to call unless it was an emergency. All day, every time my phone would ring, my heart would skip a beat. The day would be utterly ruined if I were caught away from the base.

We left Jeremy and Amber’s right before lunch on Friday, March 21, 2003. We were in no rush, since this was a relaxing, carefree trip with no purpose and we really had nowhere to be. We drove through Taco Bell on the way out of town and ate on the way down so we could have more time at the beach. About halfway there, around Dillon, we passed a sign that said, “Baby Chicks for sale.” Emily wanted me to stop and let her “look” at them. I, of course, knew that if she coerced me into stopping that I would cease to be her center of her attention as we took our brand new baby chick to the beach with us. Being the man of the relationship, I put my foot down and told her no! I couldn’t be swayed or bribed. I could however, string her along. After all, I know what the day holds and she doesn’t. After she had begged and pleaded and did everything short of crying (and we were safely 5-6 miles down the road) I made a deal with her. She perked up at the thought of making a deal that surely would end up with a cute, little chicken. I told her that if she were not completely satisfied at the end of the day, and that if I didn’t completely show her how much she was loved, I would do better than buy her a baby chicken… I would buy her a Kitten! She took the bait, and started plotting how to not have fun. Emily had practically named her little furry beast, still with no clue that I was playing a devious little game.

We made it to Barefoot Landing safe, sound, and without any furry hitchhikers. We spend the day poking around the shops and just killing time. I like to plan enough to not be bored, but I love a little spontaneity in my life as well. The only sure things on my agenda were a game of Putt-Putt, a nice dinner, and a long, romantic walk on the beach. So, we just set off in no particular direction.

After spending a good bit of the morning at Barefoot Landing, I suggested we go find a fun little mini-golf course. If there is one thing in the world that Emily and I are both mega-competitive at, that is it. We found a course and set out on our rivalry. Emily has always given me a run for my money, but this time, I was slowly getting an edge. It came down to the final holes, and I am almost ashamed to say that I pulled out a stunning victory! Looking back, it is pretty sad that I whipped up on her the same day I proposed! I guess that proves that she really does love me! I humbly celebrated my win by letting her beat me at a few games of Skeeball. OK, I am man enough to admit that she is better than me, and she won at Skeeball all on her own. After a little fun in the Game room, we went back to Barefoot Landing for dinner.

We both love steak. If God blessed us with one thing, it is good appetites. Emily loves the Filet Mignon and I am a Prime Rib kind of guy. So, where else would we go for a nice, romantic dinner overlooking the harbor than T-Bones Steakhouse? Somehow, Emily managed to turn the conversation to the topic of engagement. I danced around the topic like a seasoned clogger and successfully kept the wool pulled over her eyes. I have dodged some pretty close bullets before, but she was aiming hard. I convinced her that I had to ask her dad before I would dare buy a ring, and she would definitely know if I had talked to him. She agreed. I went on to say that as soon as I found the perfect ring, I would have it on her finger. “Hurry Up," she protested.

“Baby, I am as anxious as you are. You know that as soon as I find the perfect ring that makes me go Wow, it will be on your finger.” Of course, I found the humor in the conversation because I knew that right at that very minute, I had the ring in the pocket of my jeans. I had found the perfect ring, and it was about to be on her finger! Luckily, the conversation changed direction and we ate dinner in peace and we were evermore in love.

After dinner, we went down the harbor to try to watch the sunset and to look at the boats. I was trying to kill a little more time until it got dark. After a little while, we decided it was about time to go home, so we would go down to the beach for a little stroll before we left. After all, what is a trip to the beach without a long walk on the beach?

We were holding hands as we walked along the edge on the tide, reminiscing about our 2 1/2 years together. I was trying to work up the nerve to ask her to marry me, but the words were stuck in my throat. I kept trying to bring up about all of the special times we have shared together, and all of the wonderful memories that we have with each other. After about 10 minutes or so, I had to start making a move. Since I had the ring in my left pocket, I casually spun her around, pulled her close, and kissed her. We danced a little, which we are prone to do at the oddest of times, for no particular reason. When we started walking again, I made sure she was on my right side. I nonchalantly reached into my pocket and slipped the ring onto my finger so I could prompt myself to go for it. We walked for another minute or so while my heart proceeded to wreak havoc in my chest cavity. I saw the lights of a hotel ahead of us that lit the area down by the water pretty well, so I thought that it would be a perfect place to stop, turn her around and make her day worthwhile.

We made it to the designated spot; I turned, opened my mouth and quickly prepped my brain to produce the right words. For what felt like an eternity, I stood there with my mouth open, ready to go, but nothing else was working. Immediately, Emily thought something was wrong. My body was reacting to the emotion that was being produced from one of the most stressful moments in my whole entire life. I took a deep breath and began. “Emily, you mean the world to me and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” So far, so good, I thought. “I want tonight to be another memory that we share for the rest of our lives.” I am not sure at this point if she was expecting good news or bad news, but either way, I had to cut to the chase. I instinctively dropped down on one knee like I knew was customary and asked, “Emily, will you marry me?”

I offered her the ring and for a brief second thought that I was going to have casualty on my hands. She was very still and quiet for a moment and that petrified me.
Was she trying to gracefully decline, or could she not breathe. Either way, one of us was about to hit the ground. Praise the Lord! She took a deep breath and managed to whisper, “Put it on me” as she held out her hand.

I did, and we held each other tight to savor the moment. Much to my surprise, I had tears in my eyes. She pulled back and looked at me. “How did you do it? I had no idea that you were going to do that!”

We started walking towards my car that was parked about a half a mile away. We talked about it all as we walked hand in hand. I confessed that I was completely surprised that no one had slipped up and said too much. We laughed about how close she was a couple of times during the day to finding out my plan. We rehashed the conversation from dinner when I barely avoided her blind shots of when we would be getting engaged. We found our exit from the sand, and as we walked across the parking lot to my car, the inevitable happened.

John called, and as he sounded as though a war had kicked off and we were hours away from donning our parachutes and jumping into enemy territory. “Charlie Company just got recalled and I think the whole Battalion is getting recalled soon.”

Here’s the situation… I am 2 hours away from the base, I am currently breaking the rules by being gone, and in less than 2 hours, I may be late for a formation that could get me in some major trouble. Turns out that someone had come up hot on a drug test, and that company was being pulled back in. I told John that we were going to leave immediately and try to beat time back to Fort Bragg. What a crummy time to have a recall. I had one thing on my mind and that was getting home. We got in the car, and as fast as I could drive (without exceeding the speed limit, of course) I pushed my little red Jetta up the road. This was one of the best days of my life and I had no desire for it to come to an abrupt, sour end.

During the ride home, Emily had the cell phone pinned to her ear. That was OK for a little while because I was too worried about my current situation and focused on the road to mind. I called John back when I was halfway home, and he told me to relax because nothing was happening at our Company. For the first time in about an hour, I breathed. Emily called EVERYONE! I let her go on for a little while, but then felt like it was my turn for some attention. I took her phone away and made her take a timeout. I had one question for her that I already knew the answer to. “Emily, are you completely satisfied with today?”

As much as she would have liked to say no, she smiled at me and with a twinkle in her eyes said, “Yes, I am!” We finally got back to Fayetteville, and since we didn’t get recalled, we went back to the Harper’s and wound down after a full and adventurous day. Emily and I made a few more phone calls before we went to bed. I went to bed happy because I was now engaged to marry the love of my life and didn’t have to worry about buying a kitten for a little while longer.