THE DAY KEVIN PROPOSED

It was a Monday. The sun was shining. The sky was blue. It was a gorgeous day. Kevin had several interviews for his particular job that Monday morning; therefore, I knew I would not see him until evening.

The day proceeded with nothing extraordinary. You see, I had already come to my own conclusion that Kevin would not propose for a few more weeks. The previous Thursday, Kevin prepared a surprise picnic at a local park. I figured he would do several of these surprise outings so as to throw me off. Sure enough…I was thrown for a couple loops.

3:00pm came around – My three youngest siblings and I decided to make a little turkey piñata for our soon arriving Thanksgiving celebration. We all got into the décor of this little creature. As we were applying the papier-mâché, I received a phone call from Kevin! As always, I am thrilled to receive any phone calls from him. I became rather disappointed because Kevin mentioned the bosses wanted to do a couple more interviews and it would take a few more hours. I sighed, but said I looked forward to seeing him in time for supper. I continued on with the piñata project with my little sister and two little brothers. Little did I realize that Kevin’s phone conversation was a cue for Kayleen to take me for a walk at our near by National Park, called Fort Loudon.

She came in the room and said, “Let us go for a walk, Darleen.”

“Sure,” was my reply. “But let me help Colleen, Benjamin, and Bryce finish this turkey piñata.”Then mom came and suggested I should go for a walk with Kayleen. I said, “Okay, just a few more minutes and we’ll have this done. We still have plenty of light to go walking.”

I thought it was rather strange that Mom and Kayleen stopped doing their projects and found the turkey piñata very intriguing. I even said, “Hey, we don’t need help finishing this. We can do it.” Little did I realize they were trying to speed up the process because Kevin was waiting for me. With the newfound enthusiasm from Mom and Kay, we finally completed our Thanksgiving Turkey piñata! Hooray! I was now ready to go for a stroll with Kayleen. However, I then asked Kayleen, “Why do we need the camera?”

“Oh, remember, we need to take those pictures our friend’s requested?” was Kayleen’s reply.

“Oh, yes, I remember.” I continued by questioning whether we could snap the photos after our walk.

“No, I want to take it along just in case I find a beautiful tree to take a picture of,” she said.

I was satisfied with the answer and did not suspect a thing, surprisingly. If anyone knows me, I am very aware of any new and exciting happenings coming on the horizon.

As we were driving the 7-miles to the Park, I noticed the gorgeous weather and commented how lovely it was and how perfect it would be for a wedding. As soon as we parked in the park entrance, I surveyed the area. I remember mentally noticing that Kevin’s car wasn’t there. This was the only parking lot within a 2-mile radius of the area, so I knew nothing was up. (Later I learned Kevin literally walked approximately two miles so he could hide his van somewhere I would not see it.)

Kay and I continued our walk up a long windy road, ending at a secluded lakefront. At the last part of our stroll, I saw a familiar figure standing off in the distance. It looked so much like Kevin, but it couldn’t be, I thought to myself. “Who is that?” I asked Kay. “That’s not Kevin, is it?” Then the figure turned around. Sure enough, it was Kevin with a solemn look to his face.

“What are you doing here?” I questioned.

Kevin simply said, “Just wait and see.” He then grabbed me by the hand and took me to the shoreline.

Sarcastically I said, “A few more hours on those interviews, eh?”

“Patience” Kevin replied.

There I walked down the shoreline with my hand griped by Kevin’s. I saw a bundle of red and orange gerbera daisies resting on a stack of Kevin’s journals on an embankment near the lake. Kevin took me over near the flowers and books and told me to take a look in the first page of one of the journals. I found a letter tucked inside. I opened the envelope, took out the handwritten letter and started reading. It took me forever to read the one side of the letter… His words touched my heart. I looked up at Kevin, and then he told me to look in the envelope again. I looked and saw a wonderful gift inside. Kevin took it out for me, as I was motionless. He dropped to one knee and asked whether I would be his little darling forever. Oh, with joy overflowing the only reply I could give was, “Of course”! Truly, Kevin made me the happiest girl ever when he asked me to be his wife.

I am so blessed by God to have Kevin as my guy and love for always.