Cinco De Mayo has been an important day in my life since the year 2000. It was the day Chris proposed to me. I'm not sure how many people know this story so I thought I would share it here.
We met at the University of Montana in 1998 during my freshman year. while we were both going to school there. We worked on campus at the Cascade Country Store together and one day, we started talking about football. That is how our relationship started.....a conversation about football. I actually told his ex-girlfriend that I thought he was nice and cute and she told him to ask me out. :) We were friends for a while and we dated a for a little while, but then I went home for the summer and he went to North Dakota for his first firefighting job. We talked a couple of times on the phone and wrote a few letters to each other that summer and when we both got back to school in the fall, we started dating again and have been together ever since.
Fast forward to the year 2000. Chris was getting ready to graduate and I was getting ready to transfer to Montana State University - Billings. He was headed to Jordan, MT for the summer to fight fire and so we would only be 3 hours from each other. We had looked at rings that spring and I just KNEW that he was going to propose to me sometime when his family was in town for his graduation which was on May 13th. But he had other plans...probably because he knew that I thought that that was when he was going to pop the question......
It's Friday night, May 5th, 2000. I was working at the store and he came in on my break to have dinner with me. While we are sitting there, he pulls a rose out of his backpack. I thought to myself, "how sweet, he brought a rose to me while I'm stuck at work" And then I see something sparkly inside of the rose and it was an engagement ring! He asked me to marry him there at the store, which was where we met and where he asked me out on our first date. One of the best days of my life!
We had a LONG engagement, not getting married for 2 and half years after that night, but I needed to finish school in Billings and he was moving around working and trying to find a permanent job with the Forest Service. So, it was also a long distance engagement, but we made it work and actually lived apart for the first 6 months of our marriage too. So, if anyone ever tells you that long distance relationships don't work, tell them this story, because ours worked for a very long time and we are still together! :)
1 comment:
tears! you are a beautiful couple. i'm so happy that your relationship withstood time and distance. you are really meant to be together. i love you so much shannon.
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