Friday was an incredible day. The
most incredible day.
I woke up at 5:00am full of energy and excitement, for Dr P was coming to town. This would be his last visit before he flies back on December 26 to move La and me down to Alabama.
Yes, we're moving!
To Alabama.
Oh my goodness.
I can tell you that I never imagined that I would ever live in Alabama. But now that I've been there a handful of times, and have seen how wonderful it is there, and because Dr P and his amazing family live there, I am so completely ecstatic about moving there.
Even La can't wait. She really wants a garden.
The last time La and I were in Birmingham, we visited her new school and our new house. Her school seems incredible, and the house is only two blocks away. No more trudging two miles through feet of snow to get her to school and then me to the train.
That thought alone is enough to jump-start the packing process.
And look how cute our little house is!
It's perfect. I can't wait to live there.
Now back to Friday.
Well, let's go back to summer first. In June and July, when he still lived in Chicago, we would meet for lunch a few times a week. The tradition began when I met him in Millennium Park after he took his board certification exam in a nearby building. I brought sandwiches and a thermos of margaritas to celebrate.
Our tradition continued over the next month or so, until we were just days away from packing up the car and moving him home to Birmingham. We met one last time at the park in our usual spot in the garden area by the stream. We sat next to the stream on the wooden ledge with unopened Jimmy John's subs, our feet dangling in the water. He held me in his arms as I cried and cried, and assured me that just because he was moving didn't mean he was
leaving me.
I will never forget how I felt that day. Sad, sad, sad ... but also hopeful for a future with this incredible man.
Dr P flew in at 1:00 in the afternoon on Friday and met me at work. He dropped off his luggage and we left the building to walk around downtown.
The plan for our walk yesterday was to end up at that spot where we used to meet for lunch because Dr P wanted to see what it looked like in the wintertime. I said I was hungry, so we stopped on the way to get the usual, a Jimmy John's sub.
(We ordered the #6 with Jalapeño chips, in case you're wondering. The chips go ON the sandwich. I highly recommend doing this as soon as you possibly can.)
When we walked through the hedges that border the garden area and took in the scene, we looked at each other and cracked up. It was a barren wasteland of brownish plants, vinyl tarps and snow — with a few sporadic tufts of hearty prairie grass poking up here and there. Nevertheless, we meandered through the garden and over to the spot where we used to sit and talk.
Nobody else was there. The sun was shining brightly. We were surrounded by tall hedges and tall buildings, and we were completely alone. (I guess nobody else saw the beauty in the brown prairie grass)
I brushed some snow aside and sat down on the wooden ledge next to the frozen stream, intent on ripping my sub open and devouring it, while he chattered on and on about how much this spot meant to him and how he felt the last time we were there. He said something about that day when I sobbed on his shoulder being a defining moment for him. That it was the moment he knew that he wanted to marry me.
Wait.
Homeboy say
what?
I stopped unwrapping the sub.
I stared at him.
He knelt down next to me, one knee in the snow.
He opened a little black box and asked me if I would marry him.
My heart was pounding ferociously. I looked down at the most perfect ring I had ever seen. And out of shock and disbelief, the first words I uttered were, "NO. WAY."
And he was like, is that "no way" as in yes? Or "no way" as in no? I have no idea what happened after that, except that the word "yes" somehow came forth from me, and with that, we were engaged.
Engaged. ENGAGED!
Whoa.
But that wasn't the end of it. He told me he had something else, and that it was for La. He pulled a tiny antique locket out of his pocket and opened it to reveal a teeny tiny photo of Dr P, La and I inside.
And that's when the waterworks started.
We got on the train and rode to La's school. We picked her up and walked outside, where we sat down and told her what had just happened. I showed her my ring and she smiled the sweetest smile, tears welling up in her eyes. Dr P pulled the locket out of his jacket pocket and said, "La, a few minutes ago I asked your mom to marry me and she said yes, and I'm hoping you'll say the same thing. I want for the three of us to be a family together. Is that ok with you?"
She nodded her approval, we embraced, and she and I sobbed like babies.
I'll never forget that moment.
That night he surprised us with an engagement celebration. Aunt M, Ted, Kate, Poonam, Jimmy and Melissa and Jaiden met us at one of my favorite restaurants,
Perennial, for some drinks and then a few of us stayed for dinner.
Everything about the day was perfect.
Two years ago when I brought La into the clinic where he worked to have her busted teeth fixed, Dr P and I had a moment together. A wonderful, enchanted, nervous moment that revisited my memory periodically throughout the year that followed until I mustered up enough courage to find him on Facebook and send him a message.
I thought that sending that message would lead to good things, but never did I guess just how good those things would be.
I am so thankful for Dr P. I am so thankful for my incredible daughter. The three of us will soon begin our lifelong adventure, and I couldn't be more excited.
We have been truly blessed.
