After the parental meetings, Simone and I agreed to get married. I proposed to her one Saturday while we were doing some routine shopping.
I got her by surprise.
We were walking back to my car after shopping and chatting about something. It was after we arrived that I asked her to marry me.
It went down like this:
When we arrived at my car, I opened my trunk to put Simone’s bags inside. There was a little cardboard box lying in the middle of the trunk, and I asked Simone if she knew what it was or where it came from. She said she had never seen it, so I asked her to open it. Simone handed me the bag she was holding and picked up the box.
When she opened it, she saw the ring.
Her eyes popped open and was speechless. I put her bags in the trunk and took the ring out of the box. “Simone, this is for you, if you will have me.” Then I took her hand and placed it on her finger.
Of course, she said yes.
Tears were falling from Simone’s face as she hugged me tighter than ever before.
As we kissed, we heard a few people clapping their hands. One woman said, “That was beautiful!”
Embarrassed, we thanked the people and the woman that spoke asked to see the ring.
Simone, crying and laughing at the same time showed the ring to all the people who saw my proposal. They wished us luck as we got into my car.
We told Simone’s parents that evening and her mother cried. I was thinking if her crying were tears of sadness, I was a dead man. But thankfully they were tears of joy. Simone’s father congratulated us and welcomed me into their family.
We told my parents in person the following day and my mother hugged Simone, welcoming her into the family. Then Simone assisted her in preparing a nice little lunch in celebration. Simone liked the simpleness of the sandwiches and potato chips to celebrate.
Now, anyone who’s planned a wedding knows how things can get. Simone’s mother flew into town one week after Simone and I announced our engagement. Then, we tried to decide on a wedding date.
Simone’s mother and my mother sat with Simone and a friend, working out some of the details.
Believe it or not, they didn’t argue.
Simone’s mother brought some pictures from her wedding and wow!
She was and remains hot looking.
In some families, it is custom to hand down wedding dresses, rings, and other items. With Simone’s family, this would occur.
The wedding dress was well kept and from what I was told, it fit Simone to a T.
Yes, I know, it’s considered bad luck to see your bride in her wedding dress before the wedding.
The devil in the details was logistics, but there was a small window of opportunity for everyone in Simone’s family to attend.
The plans included some of Simone’s relatives to come from different places. For example, Simone’s mother had a sister and a brother who lived in Italy with their spouses and a few offspring. Her father had a brother and his wife who worked and lived in the Middle East.
My parents each had one brother and their families, but they lived nearby.
I’d been content with a small wedding, but Simone’s mother would have nothing of the sort. We agreed upon a medium list of guests, outside of the family. We invited our friends, and I invited my co-workers, as did Simone.
When the week of the wedding approached, Simone was fidgety, and I had to do without sex for the first time in a very long time. Usually, sex was two or three times a week, so going ten days without it, seemed like an eternity.
My Italian neighbors from across the way, had moved out a few months back, and the current tenants kept their curtains closed tighter than Frt. Knox. So, that was that.