on tuesday night i did something i thought i would never be lucky enough to have the chance to do.
work finished at 5 and everyone wished me luck and said goodbye with gigantic smiles, i excepted them with a gigantic smile of my own. i had been waiting for a week and a half and the time had finally come. it most likely would have happened sooner but shift work and bad timing had played their part in holding back this big day.
i hit the road and had nothing but 3 hours of time to think and wonder. until this time i had been cool as a cucumber but now that i was alone and on my way to get the job done, the nerves had taken over. the smile, however, was still firmly planted on my face.
as i approached kitchener, the snow began to fall. this was about the time that my windshield washer fluid began to ran dry. as the final few squirts of juice splattered across my windshield, the horrible streaks of road salt began to slash across my windshield.
the smile was beginning to wane.
the nearest gas station was in waterloo and i was about 15 minutes away from it. so i did what i usually i do in these circumstances, i say “fuck it” and i soldier on. treacherous wet snow covering the highway, blowing snow flying in off the abandoned fields, and a salt covered windshield. a dangerous 15 minutes later i arrived at the gas station.
after completely washing my jeep with the windshield cleaner provided by the station and stocking up with two bottles of fluid I was ready to hit the road again.
the smile was back.
i made it to fergus in almost 3 hours. i made my way to her parents house and knocked on the backdoor. i was greeted by both her mom and her dad. her mom, god bless her, had a dinner plate ready for me. her sister sat with me and we talked while i ate and when i was done, frank and kim entered the kitchen, ready to hear what i had to say.
i told them of my love for their daughter. my respect, our friendship, and everything else that we shared and how important it all was to me. at the end of it all, i asked them for their blessing to ask for their daughters hand in marriage.
they both smiled and said that they knew how much i loved starr and that they could see it in me and in her and then they granted me permission to ask starr to marry me.
we said our goodbyes, they wished me luck and i began my journey back to london.
the snow had died down and thankfully enough, i could see again. i headed back home calling everyone i could think of along the way and letting them in on what i was about to do. they all wished me luck and i could hear the smiles in their voices as we talked.
i stopped in woodstock to show my mum the ring. she thought it was beautiful and she said i had picked a good ring and a good girl. i told me mum that i wished i could stay longer but i was running out of time. starr got off work soon and i needed to be at home when she got off for my plan to work.
i jetted home from woodstock thinking about everything that had come before and trying to imagine everything that will come after this night.
as i reached london i turned into the argyle plaza and made my way to caseys. i sat outside for a minute and tried to compose myself, then i went inside.
starr was there and she said hi. i knew that if i stayed to long she would be able to tell that something was up. i told her that i had thrown out my back and i needed to go home and got to bed and wondered if it would be cool if she could catch a ride home. she said it would be no problem but gave me a strange look at the same time.
she was on to me.
i said goodbye quickly, blew her a kiss, and made my way home.
i quickly set up some candles, threw on our song, and cleaned up the apartment. i sat by the window, strummed my guitar, and waited for her.
my stomach was twisting and turning. man was i nervous.
then she got out of a van that pulled up in front of our house.
here we go.
i listened as she climbed the stairs to our apartment, my nerves building at an accelerated pace. she walked in and said hi then she took a look around at the candles and a confused look spread across her face.
it was then that i took her hands and told her what i had done that night. realization began to set in and a huge smile spread across her face.
i told her things that only we will know and tears began to fill her eyes. i got down on one knee and before i could even ask her, she said yes. we hugged and we smiled and we hugged some more, and in the end we stayed up way to late and hardly slept at all.
and that is how i asked the most beautiful woman in the world to marry me.
