As everyone knows, there’s always two sides to a story; which only deems it fair I tell my view of the proposal, as Andrew took on how we met (not to mention I believe his original “waiting on me” time has now grown from about 20 minutes to around 40 or 45 - and don’t worry, if this doesn’t make sense, it should later on). But, without further a due, I would like to present: Our Proposal Story…or well…Andrew’s…
For those of you who may not know me as well, I work in the Student Ministry Department - with a wonderful staff, I might add - at Brentwood United Methodist Church. This is also probably a good time to add-in that I have a tendency to get detailed - very detailed, my friends would tell you (they just wouldn't tell me, thank you Lynnsie Rahrer and Hunter Sinclair) so be prepared to bare with me, or you may want to turn around now! Being it is a youth department, it should not come as a surprise that some off the wall things tend to happen; but, between the weekly Thursday dance parties, Williamson County schools closing for “snow”, and various other surprise occurrences, we are actually able to get things done.
However, it just so happened that was not the case on this particular Tuesday afternoon. It was December 21, 2011 with it nearing to Christmas: Andrew was in town and I was feeling motivated (as well as pushed) to get things done at the office. Or well, all that to say before Jacob Fasig and Adam Jones walked in. Jacob Fasig, husband of Allison Fasig (who I work with), was working at Franklin UMC at the time and Adam Jones, at another United Methodist church. And before now, they probably had no idea their names would be mentioned in this somewhat elongated anecdote. Yet, I feel it adds to the story (like most details) and hopefully will only give a better idea as to why I had absolutely no idea what was happening, as it was happening, the very next day.
The reason I didn’t use vacation days during this time was I knew I’d be working on the Student Ministry’s winter retreat up until the day we left, December 28. Breakthru, the same retreat (ironically) that sparked Andrew and I’s friendship, is made possible through the combined planning and effort of several participating United Methodist churches. Fortunately for me, Adam and Jacob (both youth ministers at other United Methodist churches) just happened to be working on Breakthru at the very same time, in the very same place: my office. Now I say “working” lightly, yet I’m sure they put in much more work, than the picture I’m about to portray…
While Jacob only added to the misdemeanor of it all, Adam, well…he came in dressed in a button-down and jeans, went to the bathroom, and came back in a red spandex jumpsuit. Yes, a red plasticy jumpsuit, head to toe. This, is Adam...
So, you can imagine my distraction during the day. Luckily, I convinced Adam to put on gym shorts while in the office; but I did not, however, convince both him and Jacob to leave. No surprise, my workday ended with little to no work accomplished – an omen indeed. I headed home, thinking how much I enjoyed my work (or lack of), but also knowing I would have to return tomorrow…less time with Andrew, the thought was inevitable. We went out for a laidback dinner (sushi), came back to my parents’ house (where I was/still am living) just after 9PM, and Andrew said he thought he’d go home. Bad. Move. Needless to say, when he decided to stay after seeing my look of discontent, I was still slightly on edge: “he was staying…but not because he wanted to…what if I hadn’t looked so disheartened…he would have left…and he’d be leaving again in 5 days to go back to Portland…back to long distance…leaving…again…but I could go visit…but then it’d be long distance…again…back and forth…again?” Did I mention Andrew had been alluding to “being together” for at least a year now?
Andrew stayed for as long as he could, yet I still had trouble not feeling irritated and somewhat upset when he left. Him leaving, if only for the night, left me with mixed emotions of what it’d be like when he’d leave to go back to Portland. And, how long I’d continue to feel the tug of back and forth; and never quite be able to fully adjust to one or the other: together, apart.
True to form, the next day I tried to convince myself I didn’t need to spend that much time with him. I mean, we did long distance all the time, right? I’d probably be fine even not seeing him for the whole day. I could go to work, finish what I needed to do for Breakthru, spend some time reading..yep, that sounded good. Maybe I could even avoid the whole situation. Plan, wrong.
I went into the office early afternoon, thinking I could just miss the All Staff Christmas Party, get my work finished (or as much as I could possibly do until the day before), and head back out. Truth be told, I had forgotten about the Christmas Party since I wasn’t planning on working that day, until my boss Travis texted me that morning asking when I was coming in. He wanted to make sure we were there at the same time, but was running behind because his son Pax was sick. He needed me to do something or to talk to me about something – probably Breakthru – or at least that's what I thought until I walked in saw this…
I was greeted with a loud and boisterous “ANNE” from a rather large elf, which looked strangely like Travis. Ah, this is why he wanted to make sure we were here at the same time. Or well, maybe it was because he really did need to talk to me about Breakthru stuff as well. Either way, I knew I would feel bad walking in at the end of the party and going straight to work. I put down my bags in the office, went back out into the youth café to sit with a few other youth staffers, sang a few Christmas carols, and then made my way back into the office when it ended about 10 minutes later.
So as I was writing an email, Travis (looking more like himself in jeans and a shirt) came into the office and asked, ”Hey Anne, what’re you doing?” “Oooh, just writing an email. What are you doing?,” I asked, hearing the ‘can I ask you something’ in his voice. “Alright, so all of the youth ministers need a picture of themselves for Breakthru to show up on the screen; but, it needs to be somewhere in the church, you know, somewhere cool, where everyone thinks: HEY, that’s my youth minister! That’s my church!” So I chimed in with “Ooo, the hands!” (a sculpture like statue in front of our church) as Travis continued to walk in and out of his office, looking for something…oh, the camera.
“And you know”, he said “since you’re working on Breakthru, I figured I’d just get you to take the picture.” (or something along those lines…)
“Ha, ha, oookay”, I said.
“Ooh, and I was thinking…like…maybe the steeple?”
“Oooo the steeple! I’ve never been! The guys used to always go up there in high school, but I’ve never been! Rosanne [working beside me], want to go up to the steeple?”
“Yeah, I want to go!”
“Hey Regina, want to go to the steeple?”, yelling into her office.
“No.” ….hmmm, oh well!
Everything else seemed to happen really quickly. Travis kept moving around in and out of his office. Then he walked out of the youth office and into the hallway, as I tried asking Rosanne "don't you want to go to the steeple"…but he wasn’t waiting …and Rosanne didn't seem to be listening...she was trying to help two youth that just walked in the office. So, I ran out of the office behind him.
Travis started telling me how sick his son Pax really was. I felt bad, but assured him my brother Robert had been sick a few nights ago, so it must be something going around. But, he told me, Pax had gotten sick almost every hour on the hour starting at around 2 or 3AM. And, to make matters worse (he said going up the elevator) he had woken up to hear “Mommy”, his wife telling him to “go”, and being a second too late with his hands stretched out: all over the new carpet, red Gatorade, everywhere. Lesson learned? Never give your kid red Gatorade, in the house you just bought, if you think they’ll get sick – got it! However, on a lighter note, Travis had also mentioned, as we were walking down the hall, that when Joe Pennel was the pastor, he had asked the committee to build the room that’s now in the steeple so he could go up there and write his sermons. ‘Wow, that’s so cool’ I thought.
We opened up the door (which I thought looked a little sketchy), walked up the dark staircase, then stood beneath what appeared to be a ladder going up to another level, just before the next ladder that would open up to the center of the little room in the steeple. Luckily it was only around 1PM in the afternoon so you could see from the light pouring down from the room up above. I began up the first ladder once Travis told me to go ahead, but stopped midway when the phone rang. “Hey, Amanda, how’s Pax? What’d the doctor say?” his voice, clearly on edge. “Hey, sorry, it’s Amanda. You go on up, check it out. Ya know, see what we have to work with...I’ll be up in a second.” So, I continued on up, letting him talk to "Amanda", without listening in completely.
The problem with climbing up a ladder to get into a room is that you can’t see anything in the room (except maybe a window) until you get to eye level with the floor. So, my immediate thought when I came to where I could see was ‘who left all this crap’. Rose petals had been pushed around the floor, with white Christmas lights somewhat surrounding them, and it was in the middle of the day - really? But then, fear kicked in. Oh no, I thought, I’ve stumbled upon something I’m not supposed to see. Someone left this for someone. Oh gosh, I have to get down...
But then, pure shock.
In the time I was able to have those two thoughts, Andrew had somehow managed to pop down in front of me and get on one knee; while, I think, grabbing my arm so I wouldn’t fall down the ladder. Even though it was just a few seconds, I had been so thrown off by the rose petals and who would have left them there, or why they were there, I hadn’t even noticed Andrew standing...well, wherever he was. And, I wasn't even planning on seeing him! I was mad at him...wasn't I?! He sputtered out a few things, maybe 3 sentences, “I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have kids with you. I want to wake up in the morning to you…Will you marry me?” And, between the panicky breathing, I was somehow able to mutter up an “uh-huh”.
While I have to admit the proposal speech may not have been exactly what I had “hoped for”, I doubt an "uh-huh" is exactly what Andrew had in mind, either. However, when I really think about it, I think Andrew got it all in that first sentence: I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I couldn't hope for more.
I'm so happy to be marrying Andrew and to get to spend the rest of our lives, together.
And, for those of you who may not know the significance behind the steeple, or Brentwood UMC...
I mentioned in this story that the room in the steeple was built on behalf of Bishop Pennel's request to have this unique place to write his sermons for Sunday morning. While I think knowing that brings more meaning to what might have otherwise just seemed like "a room", Brentwood UMC has even more meaning to both Andrew and I alike.
Brentwood United Methodist Church is a place Andrew and I both spent a lot of time during high school, it is a place that helped both of us establish and grow in our faith, and it is a place that helped us establish and grow in our friendship with one another. And, just as importantly to me, it is the place I grew more in love with God, and through that, the person who has become my best friend.
Brentwood United Methodist Church is a place Andrew and I both spent a lot of time during high school, it is a place that helped both of us establish and grow in our faith, and it is a place that helped us establish and grow in our friendship with one another. And, just as importantly to me, it is the place I grew more in love with God, and through that, the person who has become my best friend.
