Proposal Day, 20 Years On

Twenty years ago today, and, indeed, pretty much close to the minute I’m writing this out now, I proposed to my now-wife, Kristine. Actually it’s more accurate to say that the proposal was written up beforehand (it was published as part of my newspaper column at the time), but right about now was when Krissy was awake and read it.

Happily, she said yes. There’s not a day in all the years between now and then that I am not immensely grateful that she did so.

If you’ve never read my proposal to her, I posted it here seven years ago. Here it is.

To my fiancee, who was then my bride, who was then my wife, the mother of my child and, always, my heart: Thank you for saying “yes” to me, 20 years ago, and every day since. I love you.

22 Comments on “Proposal Day, 20 Years On”

  1. I felt a disturbance in the web, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in “Dawwwww”!

    And also, I’m glad you two are so happy together.

  2. I proposed to a girl I had known for about a month on Leap Year day of 1968. It was probably one of the clumsiest, stupidest proposals on record. She said, “I guess so.”

  3. Similar situation here…I swear to Ceiling Cat there is a painting of my wife in the attic, slowly growing older while she looks the same as she did 20 years ago.

    And as it happens, it was 20 years ago January that we accidentally agreed to get married. Nobody ever actually proposed. We were in my living room, talking about a shooting that had happened near a friend’s house. It went something like this:

    “I used to live in a place like that. I wouldn’t be that nervous,” I said.

    “But you could end up dead!”

    “I don’t want to be dead. I want to be married to you.”

    “Is that a proposal?”

    “Yes. Is that an answer?”

    “Yes!”

    So I never actually asked outright, and she’s never told me what the answer was. But we’re celebrating 20 years of marriage in September. And we’re happy knowing that we spared two other people the ignominy of having to be our spouses!

    Congratulations to you and Krissy, sir!

  4. Caltech classmate of mine, Mark Gaponoff, made a big production of getting his girlfriend up to a certain mountain top, as it got quickly dark, said, on bended knee, “This is the only time in your life that you will get a marriage proposal at the totality of a total eclipse.”
    She accepted.

  5. Congratulations, and here’s to another 50 or so happy years of marriage. *toasts with champagne*

    May you both LLAP.

  6. Well, I’M not crying. I’m blinking really fast, and I must have eaten something funny because there’s a big lump in my throat, but I am not crying.

    Congratulations. And many more. Also, what Floored said, which is right exactly on the money.

  7. Just got back from celebrating our 40th this weekend so congratulations to you newlyweds.

  8. you are making most guys in the world look bad by remembering all these dates… please get with the program and support your gender.

  9. Congratulations! Health and happiness to you both. I will count myself the luckiest person on the planet if I can follow your footsteps on finding and maintaining such a relationship.

    And to share the dog-pile of silly proposals: (Now-Wife) and I were out to dinner for our second dating anniversary in August. I was wearing a polar fleece vest IN AUGUST (to hide the incredibly large ring box) but she failed her spot check on that. We’re talking over dinner and I say something that got under skin and NW works herself into a tizzy, ending with, “Don’t you get it? I like you. I want to stay with you.” To which I said, “Good,” pulled out the ring box and placed it in front of her. She spent a full minute taking turns looking at the box and at me. She opened the box, then looked at me again when I said, “Marry me.”

    Fifth dating anniversary and second wedding anniversary is rapidly approaching. :-)

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