Susan married me 20 years ago. Our wedding was a wonderful time of laughter, family and friends. But how did I get Susan to say "Yes"?
Susan and I had been dating for about a year. She was everything God had in mind for me...
- Fun (check)
- Laughed at my jokes (check)
- Follower of Christ (check)
After praying and considering if I could be married (guys don't think the same as girls on this subject), I knew the Lord was leading me to Susan.I also got quite a bit of "pushing" from Susan's good friend Jo Allison (since then Jo married and is now Jo Archer). Jo was always pressing for me to deepen my relationship with Susan. When we were not yet dating Jo would ask me, "When are you going to ask Susan out?". When we were dating Jo would ask, "So when are you going to kiss her?" followed by, "When are you going to ask Susan to marry?". Jo was relentless.Since Jo was very interested in my "taking the next step" with Susan, I enlisted Jo's help. I needed to get Susan's ring size, but did not want Susan to suspect anything. So I asked her friend Jo to get her ring size without letting Susan know.Jo was very quick at getting the ring size - this was a girl on a mission! Within 24 hours she called me.
The conversation went like this...
Ring...ring...ring...Mark: Hello.
Jo: Size five!
Mark: What? Who is this?
Jo: Size five!
Mark: Is this Jo?
Jo: Yes - and I got Susan's ring size in less than 24 hours! And she doesn't suspect a thing.
Jo had done the job well. I ordered the ring from a diamond broker (size five).
Next, I called Susan's parents to have dinner and ask them if I could marry Susan. We met early in the week for a dinner at their house. It was a great time to visit and was one of the first times I had ever been with them without Susan around. I dressed in a jacket for the especial occasion. Susan's parents were very gracious to me.
We had a nice dinner, but Susan's mother could barely contain herself. At the end of the meal, she just couldn't take it any longer and said, "Mark, what is on your mind?" I said that I loved Susan and wanted to marry Susan and asked if that would be OK with them. We had a good discussion about our families and how special Susan was to each of us.
I also talked with my parents and they were excited about Susan.
Next, I arranged to use our friend's (John Hromadka) sailboat. He had a large boat on Lake Grapevine. The plan was to go night sailing with Susan.
Ring purchased - (check)
Susan's parents approval - (check)
Tell my family - (check)
Arrange proposal location - (check)
So, with all that done, I asked Susan out for a dinner on a Thursday night. "Wear something nice and bring a change set of casual clothes to change into", I said to Susan. I picked up Susan that Thursday night. We ate at Baby Does Matchless Mine restaurant near downtown Dallas. Then we drove to Lake Grapevine and found John Hromadka's sailboat at the dock.
We changed into casual clothes and cast away for an eventful cruise at about 10:30 pm. We went night sailing for a while (moonlight, cool wind, your best friend at your side). Then I took the sails down and we drifted in the middle of the lake. I told Susan how much she meant to me and how I had thought about our future together. When I asked her to marry me, she said "Yes" immediately. I could barely get the question out before she said "Yes". Then I had her close her eyes and placed a plastic Fred Flintstone ring on her finger. She was surprise and laughed. Then I gave her a diamond ring. She kept both of the rings (Susan still has the Fred Flintstone ring to this day).We motored back to the dock, put up the boat and drove back to Dallas. We had to visit Jo Allison and tell her how it went. Knocked on Jo's door about 2 a.m. and visited with her for a while.
It was a wonderful time - meeting on a sailboat in the Virgin Islands (see my entry below titled "How I met Susan") and getting engaged on a sailboat. Susan and I have "cruised together" through 20 years of marriage. I thank the Lord for blessing me with such a beautiful wife.
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