The Story
-Preface-
One year ago from last Saturday, Hannah and I started dating. She was flying in from Arizona where she was watching her brother graduate from a part of the Army. God had been doing wonderful things in my mind as far as humbling me in some areas and correcting me in other areas to the point that I realized that I did not want to live without Hannah’s friendship. So, I asked her after asking her parent’s permission if she would pursue the possibility of marriage with me. Five minutes later she said, “Yes”.
-The Beach-
Having fallen head over heels for Hannah and realizing the great things that God has given us in our relationship, I asked her parents if I could marry Hannah. Exactly one year later, Hannah and I find ourselves on the beaches of Hilton Head Island to spend the day away from the pressures of life and find enjoyment in the simplicities of God’s beautiful creation. Hannah is enjoying the thought of basking in the sun while I am trying to play everything cool. We headed out of Greenville at 6:30am just to make it as early as possible and arrived around 10:30am. We headed out to the beach to soak up some rays. Following, we went for a relaxing walk on the beach. It was now about 1:00pm at which time we decide to break for lunch. We head back to my car and eat a wonderful meal of shrimp and fruit. Meanwhile, we hear the thunder overhead and see the herds of people leaving the beach and heading our way. It doesn’t bother us. Why would we be afraid of getting wet when we were just in the ocean? So, we finish up our delicacies and head back to the shores. Soon we feel a couple drops. We try to bundle up together with the little mat that we took to sit on. Soon, the rain comes down harder. Hannah decides to go sit underneath a big umbrella. I, being the macho guy that I am (ha ha), decide to kick around the soccer ball and get people’s stuff out of the rain. No, the rain didn’t let up. It only got worse. Hannah acknowledged to me that she was getting cold from the rain, so we headed up to the buildings to find shelter. There wasn’t any shelter to speak of, but we tried to wait it out underneath our mat. Much later, we decide to give up on the beach because it was getting late when our reservation for Aqua Grille and Lounge was at 5:30pm. It was around 4:00 that we decide to get ready. I fetched the car and our stuff. We got dressed and realized that we still had 45 minutes left. Hannah suggested going to the mall, so we headed out to find the mall. We soon realized that it would have taken too much time to go to the mall and come back, so we decided to take pictures at the restaurant’s lounge area. (Keep in mind that the reason we are taking pictures is so that her mom can have recent pictures on her refrigerator.) We arrive at the Aqua Grille and Lounge around 4:50pm and begin snapping some shots. The waiter lets us know that they can flame the grill whenever we are ready.
-The Meal-
At this time, I am becoming a bit nervous trying to figure out how and when I am going to propose. Hannah is still clueless about any excitement beyond the food on the table and the view of the clearing clouds to see the ocean. The sky began to open only to allow the dampness to be dried up. For
food, we began our meal with Lobster Rangoon (which tasted unexpectedly great, if I do say so myself), followed by an 8 oz Filet Mignon to both of us. We concluded our tasty meal by splitting a Chocolate Mousse Torte with a Roasted Macadamian Nut Crust. During the meal, I am trying to make conversation that would not be leading Hannah to think anything is up obviously. Hannah brought up the weather and how it was funny that we experienced almost every type of weather. We had the hot/muggy, sunny/warm, and rainy/cold. We also noticed that the sky was pretty clear after all of that. I “suggested” to her that maybe we could go out on the beach afterwords and take some pictures while we wait for the sun to set. She easily agreed that it would be a great idea. When we finished our meal, we took off from the restaurant to the shore.
-The Question-
It was now time to shine yet everything was going through my head and nothing was concrete. It was very much a blur. Since Hannah had chocolate, there was no stopping her from anything. She was ready to go almost anywhere and talk about almost anything. When we walked up to the sand of the shore, we decided to take our shoes off. I had already gotten my tripod out of the car because I threatened Hannah that we might have to ask someone to take our picture if we did not have one. (That wasn’t hard at all.) Once ready for the beach and pictures, we walked hand in hand out to the water. On our way, we were greeted with a soaked little black lab. My mind is running in circles at this point. Hannah is still clueless and talking about the sun and the cute dog and the cute kids and the cute couples and the pretty clouds. Finally, I gathered up the guts and said
, “You know how you mentioned the weather today how we got a dose of the hot/muggy, sunny/warm, and rainy/cold?” Hannah replied, “Yeah that was so funny. Look at the clouds over there too!” I tasted the consequences of Hannah on chocolate and started looking for the right words to lead into the proposal again. Right when I found the perfect words, the little dog sabotaged me from behind and left the remains of its nose on my black pant leg. This time I was determined and spoke up saying, “You know how we were talking about the weather today? Well, what did we do when it was raining?” She replied, “We made do. We lasted it out.” I continued, “Right, but we bundled up together to stay dry and warm. What did we do in the sun?” She replied, “We swam in the ocean.” I again continued, “Right, we basked in the sun together and enjoyed our company together.” Leading to my point I said, “That is like our lives. We have the sunny days and the rainy days. We have the easy times and bad times. We have the good times and the not-so-fun times. But, just like today, I always want you to be with me for the rest of our lives.” Distracted by my long-windedness (probably like you are now – ha ha), she mentioned, “Josh, I think you have something on your mouth.” I replied, “Hannah, I want you to be my wife.” Life stood still for her. Everything seemed to disappear from sight. I began pulling out the ring from my right pocket while she remarked, “What!? Josh, what are you doing??? Answering her question, I said, “Hannah – ma chérie mi amor, my love – will you marry me? Immediately, she replied, “Yes!“ No, wait! Umm!?! Did you??? Am I dreaming!? Umm!?! Just a minute. Did you just ask what I think you did??? Slipping the ring onto her finger and nervously waiting for a certain answer, I said, “Is that a yes or no? She answered, “just a minute!? Whoa! Did you? This continued for about seven minutes. Finally, she said, “Josh, I am feeling light headed. Can you please hold me?” While I pulled her close to me and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, she looked up at me and confirmed, “Yes, Josh, I will marry you. After enjoying the moment, we decided to go off and take the pictures which I hope you have already had a chance to see. If not, please see my previous post if you are viewing this through my website or go to My Albums on Facebook.
-The Future-
The future always remains unknown in our good God’s hands. With His grace, we are hoping to get married on 4 October 2008. We made the decision with many things in mind. We know that it is going to be a long wait, but we trust in His care and timing and look forward to the benefits of this period in our lives. We also want to ask prayer as we are seeking to become one in Him.
Happily blessed,
Josh
PS: “If you finished reading all of the 1,471 previous words, thank you. I hope that you enjoyed it! If you do not have as much patience for such long-winded people as myself, I hope that you found the end result enjoyable. (Feel free to ask one of us about it in person and hopefully it will be shorter.) Thank you.