On New Year’s Day, my daughter got engaged. And I am pretty sure she is the only one who didn’t know it was coming.
She and her boyfriend have been dating for five years. They started dating in high school. When she went off to college, they continued dating long-distance. When she graduated and moved back to Charleston, they were back in the same town, never having missed a beat.
I have a personal reason for feeling this is a good recipe for a relationship. My wife and I began dating in college, and when I graduated, I moved to Florida to start a job, and she finished college. We dated long-distance, until we moved to the same town. Seeing as how we have been married for almost 25 years, I’d say it certainly can work.
Her now-fiance, Tyler, came to me a few months back to bring up the topic. We were sitting on my back porch chatting, and he said he had to ask me a question. And he then asked for her hand in marriage. I found that sweet and endearing. I also know my daughter, who is a fiercely independent, brave, strong soul. I said to Tyler, “I appreciate you asking. I also think you know Allie, and she will make it very clear she’s not my property. She’s going to do what she wants to do.” I assured him, however, that I appreciated the traditional approach – I did the same with my father-in-law – and assured him my wife and I both loved and supported him, and we would be honored to officially add him to our family. The only caveat I asked him to strongly consider – my daughter has a year and a half left of grad school. If she could keep her focus on a grad degree before a wedding, that would be superb. He agreed that was a fair concession.
Tyler and Allie went to Disney after Christmas, and he was planning on asking her then. Disney is my daughter’s favorite place on the planet, and she has gone, well, a lot since she has been a kid. She has that Disney magic in her, and this seemed to be the perfect place.
On the day of the proposal, we were somewhat expecting a morning proposal. We heard nothing. We had friends and family asking us if it had happened yet. Nothing. We had been talking about the engagement for months prior, so everyone knew about it except for her. Kudos for everyone in our circle for keeping one of the most well known secrets out of her orbit.
Around mid-afternoon, my wife texted Tyler to see what the deal was. Apparently, Allie had the whole day planned out to the minute. And since she didn’t have “Get Engaged in Front of Cinderella’s Castle” on the agenda, he just couldn’t get a break in the day.
And then, at 6:23 pm, my wife and I got a text. It showed a picture of Tyler on one knee, with the castle in the background, and our daughter in bewildered shock. My wife responded with a love emoji. Because I am me, I responded with, “Did you say yes?”
Of course, she said yes. She called us a moment later, which was extra funny to us because she was bordering on having no voice because they had ridden the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride twice the day before, and she had screamed her head off. Also, according to her, the Guardians ride is amazing. I did not ask her to rank it compared to an engagement, because, let’s be honest, nothing good can come from that.
I know they have a wonderful future together. Tyler already is family to us, but it will be extra amazing to have him officially on the roster. After she has a graduate degree, of course.
Mike Gibbons was born and raised in Aiken, S.C. and now lives in Mount Pleasant, S.C. A graduate of the University of Alabama, you can e-mail him at scmgibbons@gmail.com.