The Engagement Part 2

Last Friday evening, Enoch and I had our monthly book club with our group of friends. We discussed This I Believe--a great collection of essays from NPR, in case you are interested.

Enoch showed up a little late, but still with his "man bag." He is one of those men who feels more secure with some sort of shoulder bag, so I didn't think much of it. Midway through the book discussion, he got up to get the bag and bring it over to where we were sitting, which I thought a bit strange, but who knew. He actually was thinking about giving me the ring right there in front of our friends, but decided he would wait because he wanted it to be our moment rather than a bunch of people's moment. Nevermind that our friends had already teased us about a lack of ring just a few minutes earlier.

Enoch had actually gotten the ring just that day in the mail and was wracking his brain about the best way and time to give it to me.

So after book club got over, we decided to go to his place for a swim in his pool. Once again, the man bag came out to the pool deck with us, and this time I asked him why, and he just dismissed my question.

After about five minutes of swimming, he suddenly said he has this "gift" for me. It's a book he heard about on NPR about language and thinking--The Stuff of Thought. Since I teach AP language and talk to him a lot about what we do, he thought I might like it. He said it gave some things to reflect on.

"So it has reflective properties?" I said. I was totally onto his game, but I don't even think he had realized his pun.

So we got out of the pool, and he gave me this wrapped gift that is most definitely a book shape, but I could tell there was another smaller box underneath it. I opened the book first very carefully, and then I went for the ring box.

Here's where things didn't quite go as he would have liked. I think he was so nervous and unsure about how to do it, that he just let me open the box and put it on my own finger. He didn't ask me to marry him again. There was no down on one knee action. Just getting the ring. But I was super excited, and it is lovely.

Then we kissed and contemplated the joys of marriage. Then we took off the ring and got back in the pool. :)

I tried taking pictures of the ring the other day, but without a macro lens, it really won't focus close up so once I can get a link from him, I will post it here, so you can see an internet picture of it.

Now it is seeming more and more real all the time... :)