A Bit Of Their Story

He had a plan. 

Every young man who is going to ask a girl to marry him has some sort of plan. 

His plan was not too complicated, but the end result would be lovely. 

If all went well.

So, it all started (for me) on a Monday evening when I got home from work at about 8:45pm. My dad, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, said something about having just gotten home. 

When I asked him where he had been and he responded, "I was out with Dave." I knew exactly what that meant; Dave had met with Dad to ask him if he could marry his daughter. 

The next few months were a slow death for the girls in my family (excluding the oblivious Meredith). You see, our father had strictly instructed us not to tell a soul.

And for a girl...well, let’s just say that that is pretty hard.

But we did it.

And Meredith never got a clue from us.

So this was Dave’s plan (as far as I can learn….in other words this is the abridged version, the cliff notes):

He first had to get Meredith in town for some reason. So, he hired my oldest brother and his wife (commonly referred to as “A&E”) to plan a get-together here that Meredith would not want to miss.

A Party.

So, my very intelligent sister-in-law made a Facebook invite and told everyone (all of Mer and Dave’s good friends) what was going on and to “pretend like they were coming to the party”. So, a conversation ensued about what people should bring, and who could (and couldn’t) come.

So Meredith had to come home for, what she thought, was a party.

Meanwhile, my sister Delaney (who goes to the same college as Meredith….in fact, Meredith is Delaney’s RA) was plotting and working on her side to get Mer home.

And Dave’s plans seemed to be working out wonderfully.

But, little did he know, Meredith had plans.

She decided that she wanted to surprise him at The Party.

So she told him that she wasn’t going to make it that weekend.

Dave knew that she was trying to surprise him as well (he has undercover-informers ...a.k.a siblings), and knew he had to treat the situation with the upmost delicacy.

And that in itself is a long story.

Well, The Day came snowy and cold.

Delaney and Meredith boarded the train and began to take the hour-and-a-half train ride home. Meredith was so excited about surprising Dave at this non-existent party that she didn’t notice Delaney texting to communicate with everyone else involved.

When the train pulled into the station Delaney’s Man, Zack was waiting for them. In Meredith’s mind Zack was taking them to The Party where she was going to surprise her Man.

 But in actuality Dave was going to give Meredith the surprise.

At home, we were getting ready for a celebration. Dave’s family had been invited to our house for a different kind of party than Meredith was expecting.

 We were waiting for what seemed like ages.

After Zack had picked up the girls at the train station he had to buy time.

You see, our little part of the state was getting snow.

And lots of it.

Dave was later than planned so he asked Delaney and Zack to give him some time.

So they did their best and stopped to get coffee at Dunken’ Doughnuts. They then proceeded to take the long way home (much to Meredith’s annoyance).

Dave then texted Delaney saying that he was ready for them.

So Zack steered the car towards the park they were to meet Dave.

When they arrived they told Meredith to get out of the car and handed her a scroll.

Then they drove away.

The scroll, a note from Dave on it, told her where to go, and where she would meet him.

It also said some other things too…I do not know exactly what.

She saw him in the distance waiting for her and yelled, “YOU CAN’T OUT-SURPRISE ME!”

When she reached him he handed her another note.

I also don’t know what this note said, but I do know that it eventually said, “Will you marry me?”

Then he knelt down and asked the question again, and after she responded with an emphatic, “Of course!” he pulled out a small wooden box with the ring inside.

He had made a fire in and had food and some kind of warm-drink (coffee is my guess), so they enjoyed some “we just got engaged” time together.

Then they came home.
And that is where my video tells the rest of the story.

So that is that. 

Like I said, this is the abridged version and the best I can do at telling the story. So forgive me if I left out anything.

Happy Friday! 

~Mackenzie Hope~