“Place my heart in a secret place so that all my desires shall be my own and the deceiver shall find no hold there.” – Susanna Clarke
Saturday opened like any other summer day in Maine, except for the bright sun and the secret I was carrying. First in my bag, then obvious in my pocket. My camouflage was the routine and a deception aided and abetted by the few privy to my plans. This was almost not enough.
I spent the day sideways which, if you haven’t had a boxed ring in your pocket, you probably will never understand. We were almost to the fabric store when I broke from cover, proposing a trip to a spot outside Camden with little to recommend it but the views and the quiet. If you know her, you probably wouldn’t believe that she didn’t suspect, and so she did. That she dismissed it just as quickly is a testament to the acting abilities of her parents’ and, to a lesser extent, myself.
Just after three, and three interminable side trips, we arrived. When the tourist couple and the solemn, solitary woman contentedly feeding from a spread on one of the benches got the picture and trickled out, I took advantage. Of course I bungled the actual proposal, but she was surprised enough, said her own “of course” and we were engaged.
From there, and from here, word ripples outward, digitally, at a geometric rate. The secret now satisfied, the end of the beginning is come and gone.
For that, but more for her, I’m thankful.
Alex says:
August 3, 2009 at 11:17 am
So awesome, congrats to you both!!
Glen says:
August 3, 2009 at 12:18 pm
congrats!
Jacek says:
August 3, 2009 at 1:06 pm
that’s nice, she must be really special. wish you all the best
john simonds says:
August 3, 2009 at 1:39 pm
way to go SOG…congrats
Donnie Berkholz says:
August 3, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Congrats! Love the sideways comment… how stressful.
Ric says:
August 4, 2009 at 5:57 am
@sog – congratulations and best wishes! You’ll find very few journeys as exciting, frustrating, uplifting or debilitating … but you’ll find you can’t live without it, or each other. Good luck on the travels.
(for the record – I speak from nearly 30 yrs experience, and hopefully 30 more)
dave shields says:
August 4, 2009 at 10:16 am
Good news indeed, and thanks for the quote from Susanna Clarke, which was new to me.
My own favorite quote of such matters can be found in Sonnet 112: “You are my all the world.”
As with open source, the key next step will be to jointly build a community …
dave
Cote' says:
August 4, 2009 at 3:28 pm
That’s excellent news, I’m glad for the both of you ๐
james governor says:
August 6, 2009 at 7:49 am
great work
Geof F. Morris says:
August 9, 2009 at 7:21 am
Hey guy … what great news. Have had a smile on my face since I first saw the photo on Flickr. ๐
links for 2009-08-09 | GFMorris.com says:
August 9, 2009 at 7:33 pm
[…] tecosystems ยป Saturday (tags: gfmorris_comment) […]
David Comay says:
August 10, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Congratulations, Stephen!
In Case You Haven’t Been Keeping Up With Current Events – wicked clevah says:
August 24, 2009 at 9:46 am
[…] had a distinctly odd season. The fiancee and I – oh, did I not mention that? yeah, I got engaged, it’s awesome – saw him dominate the Rays in the season opener. He followed that gem […]