She Said Yes

The Proposal:

I don’t like Valentine’s Day. This you know.

Then again, there’s hardly anything you don’t know about me. In fact, you’d certainly be the best person to figure out what it is about me that you don’t know. Myself, I’ve lost track.

One thing I needn’t remind you about is that I’m a chronic procrastinator. As I’ve said more than once: Why put off until tomorrow what you can forget about all together? But some things can’t be forgotten. Some things just should not be neglected.

Valentine’s day isn’t really one of those things. Everybody knows it’s a greeting card company’s excuse to make money off of love and guilt. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use the opportunity to express love or give in to guilt. I know I’m always grateful for an Arbor Day card from a local dendrologist.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic here.

I was wondering what should I get you for Valentine’s Day. Well, flowers are obvious. And I hope the ones I sent you made you feel special today. You should feel special every day, but we all know that’s not realistic. I figure sometimes you could use a little reminder. These greeting card companies were on to something.

But I wanted to give you something really special. Something I haven’t given you before. Something you’d remember forever or at least until you conk your head on sailboat’s mast and wander through Mystic aimlessly until you encounter a shirtless Matthew McConaughey with whom you fall in love while he assists in recovering your memory and you and a ragtag group of misfits help him defeat an angry old spinster who has threatened to sell his grandmother’s beachfront cottage to make way for a new condo development. (© 2008 by R. Harrison)

There’s so much I want to give you. After all, you’ve given me more than you might realize. A regular smile. A true sense of who I am and what I can be. A hard time when I pick my nose. A best friend. A home.

I’m not sure what makes the best gift. Usually they aren’t store-bought things. But I’d like to think at this point in our lives together, there aren’t too many things I could give you that wouldn’t also be a gift for me. I don’t mean that in the Homer-buys-a-bowling-ball-for-Marge sense. I mean that anything really worthwhile I could give you, I’d also be giving myself. Your happiness is my happiness. Even if it’s just a pair of new socks to warm your cute little feet.

No, I didn’t buy you socks.

And yes, I did buy you something. But it’s just a token (worse, actually). What’s more valuable, what’s better than anything I’ve ever given you or anyone for that matter is something we can, hopefully, both share forever. Something nobody, not even a shirtless Matthew McConaughey, can take away from us. One of those things that should not be forgotten. Should not be neglected.

And yeah, it’s Valentine’s Day. Maybe that cheapens this gift. I don’t know. I’d like to think it will finally give this day some actual, earned meaning.

So please turn the page.

And please say you will.