A few weeks ago I purchased an engagement ring for my girlfriend Emily. The weekend prior I asked her father for permission to propose to his daughter. His response was “welcome to the family!” My plan had been to propose while in Kauai on November 30th while looking out over an amazing sunset or sunrise. I had the whole thing planned, I’d record my voice over the top of “our song” and play it for her through my mp3 player. Emily’s father said something to me when I shared this with him, “why wait to share good news? When you have something good to share, why wait?” I told myself, “because I want it to be perfect!” And so I would wait, an entire month before asking the women I loved to spend the rest of her life with me.
Skip ahead two weeks, it’s Saturday afternoon and I’m going for my daily run. I was listening to a Darius Rucker song “Learn To Live:”
you gotta live to learn
you gotta crash and burn
you gotta make some stances
and take some chances
you gotta live and love
and take all life has to give
you gotta live and learn
so you can learn to live
While listening and running, I was overcome with such joy and gratitude, I starting raising my arms and waving to every vehicle that passed by. Some waved back with smiles on their faces, others thought I was crazy. I actually broke down in tears and I realized we only live once, and I had something great I wanted to share and couldn’t wait any longer. So I went inside, put the headphones on my girlfriend, let her listen to how much she meant to me, and asked her to marry me. She said yes!