How Ben Proposed:
For all of you who want to know, here is the story of how Ben proposed to me. On Tuesday, April 26, 2011, Ben and I went to listen to devotional as usual. We have made a pattern of listening to devotional on the radio together (devotional is a kind of worship service/sermon held at our university every Tuesday).
Now, he had told me that he was going to propose in a couple of weeks, so I wasn’t expecting a proposal that week. We went to Smith Park and had a picnic during the devotional. It was snowing, so we put the picnic blanket on the concrete floor of a gazebo, and unpacked the picnic basket. Ben had bought strawberries, red grapes and sparkling grape juice, and I had brought Jelly Belly beans.
It was funny, because as we listened to devotional, the radio did not want to work anywhere but on Ben’s knees or my lap. The devotional speaker was Brother Edwin A Sexton, on the Economics Faculty at our school. He talked about Christ, and the literality of His Resurrection, and of His Resurrected body. I was slightly sleepy, so whenever the speaker would end a quote that used the word “amen”, I would say amen, and thought it was over. Ben laughed at me. 🙂
It was so peaceful and blissful spending time with Ben. Listening to devotional with Ben is one of my favorite set of memories, and that day was especially nice. We noticed a dad and his daughter playing at the park, which was endearing, and I smiled in amusement as the wind blew snow onto Ben’s shirt. It was funny -I thought it was such a nice day, that I was trying to hold onto every detail, and was slightly narrating in my head (‘And then, as the snow blew gently across Ben’s shirt, I looked into his eyes and felt completely content with the world’); I can be silly like that sometimes.
At the end of the devotional (and I had said amen at the right time, finally), I felt really cold and asked Ben if we could go somewhere warmer. Now, normally, Ben helps me stand whenever I get from sitting, but he didn’t, and I thought, ‘that’s strange’. He then quickly knelt down in front of me. It took me a second to process, and then I realized what he was doing. I was so surprised! He pulled out the box the ring was in, and asked me very simply if I would marry him. I have always felt a simple question is better than an elaborate declaration of love. I was so excited, that I threw my arms around his neck and said yes. Ben held me for a little while, and then said, “I didn’t hear what you said.” I laughed and told him, “Yes, of course!” Apparently Ben just needed to be reassured. Oh, it was just so…perfect!
