HOW WE MET

I had just moved to Salt Lake City from Idaho falls. I got accepted to the University of Utah for my MBA. She was widowed and had two kids. I didn’t know many people and spent most of my time studying. It was the funniest experience. We met at a Christmas dinner with our Church briefly. Actually, I met her boys. They had these elf hats on and I was teasing them, just joking, when Gary, he was about 5 then, he just hauled off and punched me in the nose. Good and hard too, made me bleed. I was surprised. That was when Melissa rushed over with her friend. She was flustered and embarrassed and scolded him good. I could tell she didn’t want to face me. She was till going through a hard time then. I wasn’t upset at all. She rushed off with the boys. I got a kick out if it. That boy jumped off the house with a blanket once, trying to use it as a parachute. You gotta love him.

About five months later I was walking my dog near the park at the edge of campus when I see Gary and Jason. I put up my hands ready to fight and they start laughing. They come running over. They love Bear, my dog. He’s a border collie, smart as heck. There we are throwing the frisbee with bear when I ask about their dad and mom. “Dad’s dead,” Gary said. Just said it outright like that. That was really the first time I knew that he had passed. It had been a few years and the kids were small. They barely remembered him except from pictures. Anyway, long story short, along comes Melissa trying to gather up the boys when she sees me. “They told me if I didn’t let them play with the dog they were going to kick my butt again.” She laughed, an embarrassed laughter, but a beautiful laughter. Honestly though, somehow that little tidbit of information those boys gave me just a few minutes earlier was enough to make me look at her twice and when I did, I thought, wow, she really is the most beautiful woman. Where I come from, you see two boys and a woman, and if you are decent man, you don’t look further, not in a bad way, just keep a respectful distance. So that is the short of it. We talked, went to pizza, then you know, wash, rinse, repeat.

HOW I PROPOSED

It was simple, really. Like me. I am kind of simple, and I think that is a good thing. I think some people see simple as stupid, but I think of it as keeping your mind on the important things, say what you mean and do what you say, don’t convolute it with a bunch of noise. So that is pretty much how I go about everything including this. We had been together for about a year and half. I just knew it was right. I mean, we were like family from the first month. She wasn’t looking for a man either. She didn’t need one. I know how some people think, but she is quite successful in her own right, so there wasn’t that kind of pressure. We just enjoyed each other’s company and I love the boys as much as I love her.

One day, it just popped in my mind that it was right and I should make it permanent. I didn’t want to do it on the holidays because I think it kind of cheats the holidays. Let Christmas be Christmas and whatnot. So I waited until February. I took them to Snowbird for the weekend, a ski resort. Put the kids in a ski school and later the first night we planned a nice dinner at the lodge. I took the boys down while she was getting ready and told them my plans to ask their mother to marry me and asked what they thought. You know how boys are, they laughed and joked about me being dad and such. They were all for it though. I told them to keep a secret. There we are at dinner and the little knuckleheads kept fidgeting and giggling. I was planning on waiting until after we ate. I ordered a bottle of Champagne. She was onto us. “What are you three up to?” she kept asking. I tried to silence them with a stare and they just giggled more. “What?” she said, “what is it?” Out of the blue Gary screams with laughter, “He wants to marry you!” She was stunned and confused and looked to me for an explanation. “What is he talking about?” I was on the spot now, what could I do except pull out the ring? “Would you do me the honor of spending the rest of your life with me?” I asked. I can still remember her expression. She wasn’t expecting it. We didn’t talk about it or anything. She raised the palms of her hand to her face in the “Oh-My” expression she does. Her faced flushed red as a tomato. I could see tears swelling in her eyes. She then leaned over and kissed me. “And then some,” she says. And that was that. The next day the boys skied and we well, we didn’t ski is all I am saying.