Echoes.

I think what’s always kept us on the right track is that no matter whether we have good days or bad days, we’re comfortable and we ENJOY each other.
There’s a lot to be said for having someone around that knows you so well.

Nick and I met online a little over four years ago – he was in grad school, I was working hard hours as a single mom.

I’d never wanted to marry; I had never thought that that kind of commitment was for me.
I was a 24 year old single mother and planned to stay that way – and then he looked up at me in Starbucks with that shy little grin.
I was a goner.

There have been ups and downs. For the first two years of our relationship we were in the same city, but once Nick got his PhD two years ago, he moved to Minneapolis to continue working on his career and I stayed behind to continue working and raising my daughter.

But we’ve made it through.

The day that Nick proposed was actually a bad one. I’d had enough of the distance – I missed him terribly and thought that because we hadn’t made plans to meet in the middle that this distance was going to last forever.
I met him in Minneapolis to talk – to decide our next step – and the first day was brutal because we had so much fun and I just knew that I couldn’t live 14 hours away when I wanted to be with him every day.

The next day I laid out all my grievances. I talked to him about missing him, about wanting him around for the day to day, about compromise. We talked for hours and eventually decided to take a break to take our baby (our beagle Alchemy) to Loring Park to get some fresh air – where she proceeded to roll in the mud and chase squirrels amidst the gorgeous flowers.

And that’s when he proposed. After all the talking, all the months of missing him, with our incredibly muddy dog at our feet, the cathedral bells ringing around us, and flowers everywhere.
It couldn’t have been more us.
Couldn’t have been more perfect.

He had listened to me talk and offered up support and solutions for hours and then proposed – having had the ring for months, waiting for a time to surprise me.
And he did. And I said yes.
I’d never planned on a husband, but found one anyway.
And not only that, but I found a man that would hold me when I’m crying, listen when I’m upset about anything, make me laugh when I can’t find my way out of a dark day, and surprise me when no one else can.

He stood beside me for four years, through ups and downs, and beside me for that awkward weekend when we spent so much time fighting for us.
So while my proposal wasn’t classically romantic and full of flowery details, what it was full of was the realization that no matter what, we’re both in this together. I can count on him not to run away from the problem, count on him to communicate, count on him for support, respect, and love and to sometimes cross that line and meet me beyond the middle.

I couldn’t be happier to be planning to marry this wonderful man.