The Proposal

On May 16, 2007 around noon, Nathan asked me to marry him. The answer was obviously a huge "yes," but for those who have been extremely curious and can no longer contain their excitement, here are the details and the story that goes along with it.

We have been on a pilgrimage in Canada for a week now and are heading home today. Nathan and I have been planning this trip for the majority of the last year for USM's Catholic Newman Club. It has been a huge task for the both of us, but a great thing for us to do together. Thankfully, he took care of all of the actual arrangements like hotels and I was in charge of the money portion. We began in Quebec City where we went to visit St. Anne de Beaupre. After spending two days there, we moved on to Trois Rivieres to stay at Notre Dame du Cap. It was a beautiful place to be and I had never previously heard of it before. Upon walking into the basilica (as seen in the picture), I was amazed at how large the church was. It was much more modern than the majority of churches I have seen, but I found it to be beautiful.

I am a huge creature of habit and Nathan definitely knows that. Whenever walking into a church, the first thing I do is find Jesus. I genuflect and then begin looking around. I quickly spot the statue of Mary and make my way over. I walked around for a bit and like I always do, I knelt in front of Mary. It is here that I always pray for her guidance; that I may become more like her. At this point, Nathan knelt next to me. This is completely typical of us, so I had yet to expect anything. When we pray together, whether in front of the Blessed Mother or the tabernacle, we always pray individually first about our own intentions and then we hold hands and pray with each other. At this point, he started talking to me. We have this cute little game that I'm sure others find to be completely obnoxious if they ever hear us where we ask the other to "guess what." He proceeded to ask me to "guess what" and he said that he loved me. After another guessing, he said that he was going to marry me. He then moved his arm, which I expected would be placed around me, but instead it went for his pocket. The next thing I knew, he was off the little ledge that we were kneeling on, was on one knee, and had a ring in his hand. He then asked if I would be his wife. At this point, we aren't actually sure if I said yes or not. I was in complete shock, had a huge smile on my face, and hugged him as fast as possible. I barely remember the ring being slipped on my finger since I was floating so high in the sky.

We then turned back to prayer, obviously with a completely new intention. All the while, I keep turning my gaze between him, my hand, and the Blessed Mother. I don't know if I have ever been so happy, excited, content, and had so many other feelings at the same time before. We then got up and lit a candle together in front of the Blessed Mother (obviously a blue one). Finally, we went to kneel once again and Nathan wrote a prayer intention that we left there (I was still in too much shock to think straight). He asked for Our Lady's intercession in our relationship. That I may continue to grow closer to her and model my own life after her.

It was a beautiful time for both of us and I wouldn't change any of it. For those who are curious, I know it was one of my mother's first questions, we are planning to take part in the Sacrament of Marriage next summer. We are praying that we can be married on July 26, 2008 which is the feast of Sts. Anne and Joachim (Mary's parents) and also my late grandfather's birthday. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue along our path.

Sts. Anne and Joachim, pray for us. Our Lady of the Cape, pray for us. St. Joseph, pray for us.