Because of the spontaneous nature of our proposal, Mr. Thrift did not pop the question with a ring. However, a ringless proposal was not what he had envisioned. In fact, he had just purchased my ring the previous week, while he had been visiting his parents in Tampa, Florida. Mr. Thrift and his mom had gone ring shopping together. He told me that he found the most amazing ring with leaf-shaped prongs and he immediately knew it was the perfect ring for his nature-loving partner.
I feel a little guilty admitting to this, but when Mr. Thrift told me about the ring on the night of the fire, one of the first things I thought of was that the ring might be forever lost in the fire and I would never even get to see it! Fortunately, Mr. Thrift was not keeping the ring at our apartment. He had picked out the ring with him Mom, and he left the ring with his parents in Tampa. Although this meant that I would have to wait for his parents to deliver the ring, I was relived to know that it was safe and sound. I have to admit, waiting to see the ring was difficult, and I was very excited when both of our families decided to come to Orlando to help us get settled and congratulate us.
Our parents met us at our new apartment the weekend following the fire. We gathered around in our new, very bare apartment and hugged and celebrated. Our parents had met before, and already treated each other like extended family. Our mothers were giddy with thoughts of weddings and our fathers were busy setting up furniture. At this point, Mr. Thrift slyly took a package from his mother and whisked me outside. We walked down to the lake behind our new condo and sat on a park bench. Mr. Thrift laughed, and told me he wished he proposed to me with the ring in the first place. Already teary, I reassured him that the proposal had been perfect. He slipped opened the box, slipped the ring on my finger, and we both admired it for a while in the sunlight. A new ring. A new home. We were going to be okay.
We headed back inside to show off my new sparkling diamond, and after setting up a bit more furniture, we took our parents out to our favorite greek diner. We stuffed ourselves with hummus and falafel and enjoyed ourselves with our new, unified family. It was the perfect engagement party. I couldn't have done better if we had planned it weeks ahead of time.
(photo by Thrift Girl)
I used an amazing tutorial by photo guru Ann Ruthmann over at Weddingbee Pro to take this shot of my engagement ring. I thought that using matches for props was only appropriate, considering our engagement story. I love my ring. It is simple and elegant, and the delicate leaf-shaped prongs are my favorite part. It is modern, yet organic, which is what I strive for in my own personal style. I am incredibly impressed with Mr. Thrift and his mom for picking out such a perfect match for me!
(photo by Thrift Girl)
The week Mr. Thrift and I got engaged was a roller coaster. We got through it by sticking together, and laughing when things became so stressful that we didn't have any other choice but to laugh. If that week is any indicator of what our future is going to be like, we can guess that is going to be full of unbelievable struggle and extraordinary joy. The thing it made me realize is that whether things are happy, or things get tough, I know who I want to be holding hands with.
Did a tragic or stressful event bring you and your significant other closer together? How do you support one another when things get tough?
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