Anyways, the engagement technically started on Friday morning.... he proposed to her on the Great Wall and she said "NO". I think there are probably many reasons, but she was definitely taken by surprise and didn't really know what to say, so she went with "no" just to be safe! They continued to enjoy a fun weekend together, but other folks were always around and the two of them didn't really get any time alone to talk through the proposal/refusal/etc. UNTIL, they boarded a flight home on Monday night.
Luckily, they were the only two folks in a row of three seats, and finally got to talk through stuff.... got in an argument, resolved it, he proposed again and this time she said YES! Unfortunately, the ring was safely stored in the overhead compartment... but, the flight had a brief stopover midway through the journey, so he was able to get the ring out then.
So, technically speaking, it's hard to really pinpoint EXACTLY where they were when she finally said YES. On an airplane, somewhere high above this big country!
Matt and I did get engaged at the Great Wall... and I said YES the first time! It's a good thing too, since when I boarded a flight home, Matt stayed in Beijing. We continued to live in different cities (and, for a few brief weeks, on different continents), until our wedding 6 months later. Here's a photo from that weekend... October 2002.
Ok, now tell me something about YOUR engagement story!
3 comments:
It was July of 1999 and I was flying back to Montana to return to work at summer camp after a california visit with family. I had not flown in very many years and didn't antcipate that I would get so airsick! I threw up on the first flight and could barely get myself to board my denver to billings flight. I even thought of just having Mark drive to Colorado to get me! (He was to pick me up and drive me up the mountain to Camp Bethel). I got off the plane and there was Mark! I promptly related my flight woes. (this was when you could still greet passengers at the gate) Mark gave me the proper sympathies and then decided that he should just procede with his plans. He walked over by the seats and I saw his mom, mom's friend (how nice they all came to geat me!) and his friend Craig...with a video camera??? I began to get a clue and then noticed that Mark had grabbed his guitar, dropped on one knee and proceeded to sing me a song he wrote and the last line was "will you marry me?". As he sang I noticed in my peripheral vision that all the people in the room had stopped and were watching and burst into applause when I said yes! It was very memorable and I always have great memories whenever we fly out of Billings Logan International Airport!
-Tara Loyd
AWWW....what a sweet photo.:)
Brent and I do not have a great engagement story, but he did paint my parents house to be able to pay for my ring...
And we were baptized together on our 7th wedding anniversary at Faith...so God has redeemed our lives and grounded our committment to one another in His Word. I would love to go into more detail...but this moment is fleeting! Thanks for sharing your story and adorable picture...you are absolutely beaming:-)
Laura, you are beaming in that engagement weekend photo! i know you and Matt have wonderful memories.
If I can digress and tell our "how we met" story instead - it's much more memorable. Met your future father, Paul Crissman, on a blind date New Year's Eve 1969-70 (I know - ages and ages ago!). It was practically love at first sight for me. My father - your Grandfather Hodges - wasn't really impressed at his first meeting with Paul which happened to be the next morning as your future father got lost going back into Charlotte and decided to call our house - at 2 am! - and ask if he could come back to our house for the night. Paul's first sight of my father was Daddy entering the house in overalls after milking the cows. It was cold and rainy, so my dad looked especialy rough (I was mortified) and too boot he was carrying a bucket for scraps for the dogs. So country!
I think neither Paul nor I have a precise memory of our official engagement. An engagement ring was out of the question - we were both college students - but I do remember asking your dad several times to marry me before he finally said yes!
Love to you all, Patt
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