The Engagement

Wade's proposal was a big surprise. And while I suppose that's what I wanted, looking back it shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. While Wade and I had discussed getting married now and again, it was always labelled as an arbitrary someday.

I think I first decided that I wanted to marry Wade about six months after we had started dating. Obviously this would have been completely illegal as I was very underage, so we just continued on as we were - two teenagers in love, with no serious commitment or plans for our future together. As each year passed, people started asking us when we were going to get married. We also saw friends and family start dating and get married quite quickly - I think that's generally what happens when you grow up in a church community. One couple who started dating around the same time as us (they were a few years older) got married, had a baby and are now having their second child in a few months - crazy! Another couple advised us not to bother with "getting all of our ducks in a row" before getting engaged and married, to which I replied, well I'd like to get some ducks up there at least!

This was never us. Marriage was a huge commitment. For us, the ultimate commitment - definitely not something that we would enter into with just anyone, at any time. As Wade completed his first degree, and the end of my degree started creeping closer we started thinking maybe. But then Wade decided to go back to studying to become a paramedic, and I took a new job with reduced hours and our conversations about getting married started to drop off again. We started talking about moving overseas, we planned traveling holidays and dreamed about our future careers.

Then, one day, Wade asked me to come with him for a drive down to the Gold Coast to meet up with one of his friends. It was an elaborate ruse - Wade's friends posted decoy Facebook updates about meeting us, and Wade pretended to be working at the ambulance station all day so that he could get everything ready. I was dressed up to the nines because I thought we were having dinner at the Marriot. When we got down, Wade took me for a walk on the beach to where we had our first kiss. As the sun was setting, he got down on one knee and gave me the most beautiful ring I've ever seen in my life. I was completely shocked! Spoiler: I said yes.

But the surprises didn't end there. When we drove home, there was a huge welcoming party of family and friends waiting to celebrate with us, and our phones were beeping and ringing all night. Apparently everyone knew that Wade was going to propose except for me. But the biggest surprise of the night was how happy I was. I wasn't scared. I wasn't nervous. I was just incredibly happy and content. It just felt perfect.

- H