Way Back Wednesday: Ghost of Christmas Past

When I saw this picture, I knew I had to post it even though it's not that great of a picture at all. But it reminded me of the Christmas ten years ago when Jason proposed since Terrence and I were both on that very couch and likely under that very blanket.

On our wedding website we had at the time, here is my engagement story:

It was Christmas Day and Terrence and I had spent most of the day at my parents’ house. Jason was supposed to come over that evening so that we could exchange gifts, but he was running late. Terrence and I were so tired from the hectic day so we decided to nap on the couch. Jason finally arrived with the presents. Presents always make me happy, but I was less excited than normal because the only thing I really wanted for Christmas was a microwave and my parents had already given me that. When he first arrived, he went in my bedroom to put his clothes in the closet. He brought Terrence with him and took quite awhile so I asked him what he was doing. He mumbled an answer that I didn’t hear, but I didn’t really care enough to ask again so I just let it go. Then we did the gifts. Jason is really into Christmas so he turned out the lights except for the tree and turned on Christmas carols and got eggnog. It was really nice. Then he brought me my gifts and we opened them. I gave Jason a jacket and I got several small things like the third season of Sex and the City and a coffee table book of the Kansas City Cow Parade. Then we were done and Terrence was sleeping on my lap and I was kind of dozing off. But Jason kept saying that I couldn’t go to sleep because Christmas wasn’t over yet. A lot of times he wants to stay up much later than I do so it didn’t seem unusual, but I was so tired. Jason kept trying to play with Terrence and waking him up and moving him. That really was irritating me because he wouldn’t let the poor dog sleep. Finally Terrence woke up a little bit and Jason took him outside. When they got back in, Terrence promptly curled up and went back to sleep. But Jason kept moving him and asking me about his collar and things like that, but I was too tired to really look and I thought he should leave Terrence alone. It was getting close to midnight and I was glad because after midnight Jason said we could go to sleep. Then Jason said, “Look at Terrence’s collar” and I saw something sparkly. And then I knew, but I wasn’t sure what to say because he hadn’t actually asked me yet so I said, “Oh, what’s this?” That felt somewhat contrived because I knew what it was, but what else could I say? And then he said that we were perfect for each other and that he had no doubts that we should spend our lives together and he asked me to marry him. I of course said yes and was really excited and happy. And thankful. It was a very nice Christmas present that I was not really expecting and such a nice way for him to propose, even though I didn’t really notice the ring on Terrence’s collar for the first 2.5 hours.

And Jason's Story:

 Meghan and I had agreed that we would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with our families. We had arranged to meet each other at her apartment on Christmas night to exchange presents. I specifically pushed for this because my plan was to propose to her on Christmas Day. When I got there she was tired, but we proceeded to exchange our gifts. To set a Christmas/romantic mood, I turned off all the lights except for the Christmas tree lights and turned on my family's traditional opening-presents music, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas. My master plan was to incorporate our new two month old pug, Terrence. I decided I would put the engagement ring on his collar, intending that she would see it on him while the three of us were sitting together, and then I would take it off and propose to her. All I needed was a little cooperation from Terrence. I didn't get it. After opening our gifts, I took Terrence into the other room and attached the ring to his collar so it dangled like a tag. Meghan asked what I was doing, and I mumbled a response, hoping she wouldn't hear and would let it go. I then brought him back out to the living room where Meghan was laying on the couch. I set him down, and he immediately scampered over to the couch, jumped onto her chest, and laid down to go to sleep. I could tell by her eyes than she hadn't seen the ring. Undaunted, I occasionally tried to jostle Terrence around in hopes that he'd get up so she would see the ring. Finally, he got up, turned in a circle, and laid back down. Unfortunately, Meghan, who was very tired herself, didn't see the ring. I occasionally jostled him some more, but he refused to perk up and move around enough for her to catch a glimpse of the ring. After an hour or so had gone by, I was getting frustrated, so I decided to take him outside to go to the bathroom, hoping the cold air would awaken him. While outside, I adjusted his collar so the buckle and other tags were out of the way, leaving only the sparkling diamond ring hanging from his neck. I brought him inside, and SLOWLY set him back down on the couch, but Meghan was making eye contact with him the whole way, and, again by reading her eyes, I could tell she hadn't seen the ring. I became more desperate, and I tried making conversation about the size of his collar and harness in hopes she would look down at it, I tried to have Meghan sit up to drink her eggnog so that Terrence might be forced to sit up too, I tried jostling him some more, and I tried laying down next to her on the couch which I hoped would cause Terrence to stand up while we adjusted our positions. Alas, he slept and slept and slept some more. Finally after passing the two-hour mark, and with midnight approaching and my plan on getting engaged on Christmas Day becoming less and less likely, I reached the emergency point. I asked Meghan to sit up, which she sleepily did, and Terrence with bleary eyes sat up too. Left with no alternative, I said, "Look at our dog." She replied, "Yeah, he's cute." That wasn't what I had in mind. I said, "No, look at his collar." She looked down, finally saw the ring, and her eyes lit up. I know Meghan's not the kind of girl who would ever jump up and down or squeal at anything ever, so I wasn't surprised when she smiled and said knowingly, "What's this?" I took the ring off Terrence's collar, got down on one knee, said a few words, and asked her to marry me. She said yes. So my plan of a surprise engagement on Christmas using Terrence worked out in the end, no thanks to our little puppy who failed in the only task I gave him as my accomplice. I expect better work from him next time I need him for something. Maybe we'll just stick to sits and stays.