There are times when a girl knows that something is going on that she doesn’t know about. There are times when the boyfriend is trying to keep something from her and it just niggles at the back of the brain. It’s not like it was a bad feeling, but it was there. Something was just not right in how Chris was acting leading up to our trip to Michigan. I’d love to say that I was completely clueless and had no real idea that I might be getting engaged, but there were some “discrepancies” in his behavior that just didn’t add up.
When Sylvia, mother of Chris, called a couple months ago to see if we could make it to Traverse City when she was going to be there to see his aunt and uncle, we said yes. Then it turned out that it would be the week before I tracked out. Secretly I was whining to my friend, Dana, that it would be too hard to take days off and maybe I should just stay home. There was the question of who would take care of the dog and cats, writing sub plans for four days, and then the child from hell in my class. I eventually told Chris that I thought it might be better if I just stayed home in mid August. His only reply was: “I really want you to be there, though.” Right, he never asks me to do anything like this. I went back to school and talked to the principal and had the go ahead to take the four days off. That small thing that Chris said didn’t get me suspicious. It wasn’t until later when I thought that maybe, just maybe, he was planning something bigger than a little mini-vacation. Chris just revealed to me he immediately planned on asking me to marry him after the first phone call from his mom. Hence, telling me he really wanted me to be there.
As we got closer to the vacation there were little things that made me more excited. Sylvia called and suggested going to Mackinac Island for a night. From how it was presented to me (no doubt all a ploy, really) it was just Sylvia who was planning on going to the island. Well, I started in on how great it would be if we could go, how much I loved the island and the memories I had of being a kid and visiting there, how it reminded me of my grandmother, etc. I REALLY wanted to visit the island, but staying overnight there would be great too. I had never stayed the night. I started really getting excited about the whole thing. Screw the four days of sub plans I would have to write, I was going to be in Michigan in the fall! I was going to get some fresh cider and donuts while there, spend some time with Chris’s family, see my family for a day, and go to Mackinac! The leaves would be changing colors and the temperatures would be normal for October and I could not wait. I still had no clue, but that would change two weeks before we left.
Okay, now Chris does pretty well with surprises. He isn’t the most spontaneous person in the world, but he can pull something off that I would never expect. Valentine’s Day of last year he sent me a dozen roses and then cooked me a special dinner. I had no idea that was coming. He has given me little gifts from time to time and taken me out to dinner on a whim. But this was going to be the Surprise of all Surprises. I caught on about two weeks before he left. Sylvia called and left a message to have Chris call back. Nothing unusual about a mom calling her son; especially when they were flying in on the same day and had to meet up in the airport before driving to Traverse City. No, it wasn’t the initial call, but his returning of the call the next day. Chris got out his cell phone while I was already on the home phone and then walked out of the apartment. At first I thought nothing of it. Then ten minutes went by and I had no idea where he was. I actually kept talking to my friend and told her that Chris had disappeared! I went outside our door and could hear nothing. Very odd. When he came back in and I asked what the deal was he just said: “Well there’s a dead spot in the apartment so I went outside to talk to my mom.” Okay, but all the way downstairs and out of earshot? The whole thing might have passed and been forgotten about, except Chris made another phone call on the cell and simply went out onto the deck to talk instead of all the way outside and downstairs. This just kept bothering me. Why did he have to go all the way downstairs? Was he planning something? What was the deal? I put it out of my mind until a week later when we were out to dinner. I knew he had talked to his mom again. I asked if everything was worked out on where inside the Detroit airport they would meet and if he was ready to leave on Saturday. General chit chat about the vacation, when I would be flying up the following Tuesday and what my plans were for getting up to Traverse City. Then in a really slow and stumbling way Chris says: “Oh….uh, so my mom…..she was thinking that, um, maybe we should go to a nice dinner on Thursday night on the island. So, yeah. Um, pack something nice for that night.”
WHAT THE…? Seriously, how could any sane girl who has been with a man for SIX AND A HALF YEARS not get a little suspicious at this point?! I let it pass, but the next day started talking to a friend at school. Something is being planned and it might just be me getting a ring. The Ring. I even admitted that if I could pick a time and place to get engaged it would be on Mackinac Island in the fall and by the water. I wasn’t holding my breath, but I knew that it could happen. I knew that Chris and I had talked about getting engaged by the end of this year back in January. He knew the ring I wanted, the price, my ring size and I knew he was starting to save. There were a couple other very little things that didn’t add up too. I mean, what’s a girl to think. The day before I left for Michigan I said to a couple people that I would love to be able to come home with a ring, but I didn’t have my hopes up. If it happened, that was great. If not, that was okay too. I knew that Chris was working towards a ring and that was good enough.
In my heart of hearts, I really wanted it to happen. I wanted my instincts to be right. I wanted it to be in the state where we met. I wanted it to be near the water, on that island, with the autumn breeze. I wanted that fancy dinner to be the time and the place. I wanted to be the one calling with happy news to friends and family. And if I didn’t get the ring, well I was going to be a little disappointed.
Thank goodness Chris does not disappoint…
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