The continuance...


About a month into our dating relationship, we set a time frame. We agreed that within 4-6 months we should know where this relationship was headed and be able to a) get engaged or b) break up. I don't think, even then, either of us thought that option b was a possibility. I can honestly say, after spending just around a month with Devin, I was fairly confident this was a forever thing, which is why when he popped the question less than 3 months after we met...I was in no way freaked out.

Devin is a writer. A very good writer, actually and exactly one week before he proposed I received a letter. A letter, I might add, that he spent $19 to overnight to me. :) He said he had his reasons...I now know why. The letter was the first in a set of four, which were all written in a third person narrative, telling the boy's side of the story. (In italics are tiny snippets of the letters.)
 The first one, entitled "Summer", detailed our first date in Ludington...

 "How could they know what they'd started or where it would soon take them? What they had begun in those late days of summer was characterized then as it would be in the next season - by a quiet certainty that they'd been brought together by God and this was their time."

"to be continued"

The second, "Fall", came two days later and told of the first month or two of our courtship...

"They made a silent agreement to clear their weekend schedules as summer turned into fall...
They read books together - the Bible, stories about love, their own letters. When winter grew nearer he began writing something for her - something to show her later when the time seemed right."


"to be continued"

The third, "Winter", again coming two days after the previous one, began to morph into fiction as it told of what would eventually be where he would propose...

"Before long they came to a flight of steps, which they mounted in stride while only he took note of their number, equating each one with a time they'd had together and thinking about how it had helped bring them to this night. The first step they took brought flashes of seeing her come toward him from across the cafe, that moment when the world narrowed and then stayed that way..."


"to be continued"

And then the letters stopped. Because two days after the Winter letter...the writer himself showed up at my door, two hours early, with flowers and his adorable grin.

He said we were doing dinner downtown at one of our favorite places. At this point, I had a feeling where this all was headed... We pulled up to the restaurant and he suggested before dinner we take a walk in the park nearby. Suddenly things started clicking. Our footsteps were following the exact path he described in his last letter. I shot him a smile and told him this was seeming familiar. He just gave a knowing look and said he "thought it might".

So all of a sudden, there we were, standing in the center of a walking bridge over a misty river, in a deserted park, with the city lit up behind us. I don't think even Devin, with all his planning, could have arranged such a perfect setting.

In one of the letters he had implied I'd be receiving some gloves. Devin always has gloves. I never do. He's always holding my cold hands. Devin proceeded to hand me a small box, with a gray ribbon wrapped perfectly around the outside. (He had went to Anthropologie to find the perfect ribbon and then watched youtube videos on how to tie it around the box correctly...how cute is that?!)

As I opened the box I recieved the the fourth and final letter entitled "Spring"...

..."With the onset of winter still taking hold it seems too distant, but his thoughts turn to the season ahead and he wonders if Spring is when they will be married"...


"the beginning"

Then, the ring is in the left glove, the glove comes off, the boy takes the ring and gets down on one knee. A question is asked, the girl says yes immediately, and then there's some embracing and well...other stuff. And then the girl finds herself engaged to someone that she loves in a way she's never known before.

And THEN...wedding plans started to take up all of the girl's spare time and keep her awake at night.

And THEN...they lived happily ever after, of course.

Oh, and THEN...the girl eats lots of her words (as she always does when she moves into a new stage of life) because suddenly she's sappy and romantic and full of pda and losing all of her independent desire. She's one of those girls.

17 comments:

Linda said...

Loved reading this recap of the last few months- just like a fairy tale that came true :) God is so good!

Daish said...

Em, I just love this. I always get teary eyed.

Betsy said...

I laughed. Tears welled up. The Anthropologie/YouTube detail is classic. Love Dev more because of this. And love it that you're eating your words! :)))

leah said...

hahahaha. i laughed out loud when i got to that last paragraph! that's just how it rolls girl...love seeing you in love! :)

love you. love devin. love you guys together!! :)

Devin B. Wieland said...

I think all my plans had the intended effect. It was well worth the $19 overnight charge, ha... I'm trying to avoid a pda-style blog comment, but really I wouldn't change anything about how this all happened and I couldn't be happier that--as you said--it's a "forever thing."

Sara Huber said...

I read this all the way through twice because this is a beautiful story. It makes me smile every time.

And Devin, good to see your big debut on Distractions.

Linda said...

Ok, I've been racking my brain...what's pda?

Amber said...

Linda, you totally just made me smile. "p"ublic "d"isplays of "a"ffections. I'm pretty sure my mom would have asked the same thing. . . .which is why I just smiled. : )

Em, I loved the intentional choices of your relationship . . .and even more, the clear realization that God was the one bringing you two together. I love moments in our life we can look back and see God clearly putting us exactly where we need to be, with the lessons we needed to have learned, and the heart to hear Him move .. . to be right where we are. Those moments are so faith building! I'll pray your story thus far will continue to serve as a blessing in your story still to come together. ok, that was way too wordy. . .. : ) Hopefully it made sense!

so happy for you!

leah said...

wahoo! i've been waiting for the mr to comment! welcome devin!

Christen Leigh said...

I loved reading this, even though I already knew the story...."sighhhh". ;)

Way to go Devin!

smw said...

so great to hear the end. or the beginning. :)

Laura said...

Love this! Smiling and tears while reading! I told Kaitlin all about the story and will have her read it tomorrow too! God is so good!

L, Ann and boys said...

oh my...that is so so sweet. Now Devin, all I can now recommend as further action is that you post a youtube video on how to propose with finesse. ;)

An

Aaron said...

Emily...We asked Sara for your story this weekend, and she did a good job telling it!! But fun to hear your version too. Congratulations girl! We are very happy for you.

I am one of those sappy girls who cried at your post too:) Mostly at the end, because I realized there are SO many things I said I would never do before I met Aaron, and then God used him to soften me and make me say "yes" to things I never would have alone. God is so good not to leave us to ourselves!!

Love,
Julie

Daveana said...

Em, I finally made it on here to read your story! :D It made me smile! Love you girly!

sarah.flyingkites said...

THAT last paragraph was simply hilarious!

This was super sweet and so exciting. God is so good!

Thanks so much for posting this!!
Sarah

Jill said...

What a sweet story!! SO happy for you :)