She Said Yes

Written September '09

Today I'm a proud man. I'm writing this post shortly after my parents, Elinor, and El's parents have all left New Zealand after their holidays; partially to enjoy this spectacular country, partially to see me, partially to wine and dine their way around the South Island, and partially to celebrate.

When they booked their holidays, the celebrations were only contextualised as a meeting of parents who shared a relationship through Elinor and myself's happiness, but events took on a more celebratory note back in August.

On my last visit to Melbourne, I had with me something quite precious to myself, not just for its monetary value, but because of what it meant to me. I brought with me a fairly small, contemporary style white gold sapphire engagement ring which I had bought in Borneo back in July. I think of Borneo as a turning point in my life, one which put me on a new path, one which brought me more confidence and clarity of purpose, and one which lead me onwards to Australia.

Going back a bit; it was about 3 days after getting to Australia in September 2007 that I met Elinor, in a cafe called Beachcomber, where we both worked. For a good while we were friends, workmates and nothing more, but despite us both leaving that place, we remained friends, and somehow a little into the future we found ourselves together and very much in love.

Despite my somewhat forced move to New Zealand, we have continued our relationship, and it has been - despite the distance - a happy year of visits, holidays and stolen weekends. We've remained close and learnt more about ourselves and our relationship through this time. I realised that Elinor was someone who made me incredibly happy, made me a better person, and I wanted my future to be with her.

So on a blustery cold afternoon in St Kilda, after sharing a tasty breakfast on the pier, and after randomly bumping into El's uncle and cousins, we wandered up the breakwater and it was there that I popped open the box to show El the ring. El stuttered a 'Yes, of course' and we spent the rest of the day getting our heads round the idea, supping champagne on Degraves St in Melbourne, and talking about what it meant.

To me, it is committment. To a future together, to marriage in the future ~ whether it be a year or two, and to caring for one another for our lives together.

I'm a happy man, and to be able to share this life with Elinor will make me happy. To share the engagement with our parents, and El's aunt and uncle (Anna & Mick) was special for us. We still have some work to do on living in the same country, but it seems that come February we shall re-start our lives toegther in New Zealand.

As for what the future holds, well that's just the fun bit in life ~ working out what we do, where we go, and what delights we treat ourselves to along the way.

No dates scheduled as yet (though we're toying with sometime early 2011), but a seed planted for an excuse for a future trip to one of the upside down lands to attend a wedding and explore the wonders of Australia/New Zealand/some freakin beautiful tropical island paradise.

Cheers to you all!