Letter to Oliver – 002 (Your Mama Said Yes) đź“ť
002 – Letter to Oliver from Dad.
Dear Ollie,
We had a big week buddy. Lots of stuff happened and I’ll never forget it.
There was a trip to grandma’s house for dinner and visits on Monday. There was a trip to pick out your first pumpkin and take some fall photos on Wednesday. You went with your mama to see her aunt Lisa for your first visit on Thursday. Action packed!
But that’s nothing compared to Friday.
Friday was a big day. An emotional day. A memorable day.
Friday was the second anniversary of my dad, your grandpa Mark, passing away. It’s a sad memory and a day that was coming at us full speed with nothing to stop it. By Thursday night I was feeling it pretty strongly and I poured some whiskey for your mama and I (finishing up the bottle of Jameson in the cabinet) after you went to bed.
But I was also kinda maybe making a plan.
Note: Also during the week the Michael Hill flyer came in the mail, and your mama saw an arrow ring that she liked. It’s not fancy or anything, but arrows are kind of a thing around here. That ended up being a big moment.
On Friday morning I got up and you were already doing breakfast with your mama like normal. I came into the office and worked on a New Music Spotlight post for thereviewsarein.com and while we were a little sad and slow, life went on. At the same time, I was thinking a lot about the arrow ring, and loving your mama, and doing a thing that I should have done a long time ago already.
I looked at rings on the Michael Hill website, got my work done, and your mama got herself ready to go to work in the afternoon.
Then, after she left, you and I got ourself ready to go and made a walk over to the mall. Decisions had been made.
We went straight to the jewellry store and started looking at rings. You were wide awake, adorable, and the staff oohed and awwed over you. We looked at a couple of rings that were very pretty, and that I thought your mama would like based on previous window shopping trips and conversations. We picked one. We got the arrow ring. We got our stuff and we left the store.
What you probably didn’t know is that my heart was pounding and my head was swimming in thoughts and I needed to sit. So we did and you smiled at me in the hallway at the mall for a few minutes before we walked home.
The next few hours just kind of happened. Sometimes in slow motion, sometimes in fastforward. You ate and had a nap. I talked to your uncle Chris on the phone to ask him if he would be your God Father and tell him about the ring. And then it was time for your mama to come home.
She ordered pizza. It got here and then just a few minutes later she got home. She fed you and cuddled and then had something to eat herself. My tummy was tied up in knots and full of butterflies but I made myself eat something because I was hungry, and I didn’t want to look weird like something was up.
And then we made it happen. I went and got the arrow ring in its little box and put the other ring in my pocket. I came back and you handed your mama the box and we told her that you got her a surprise. She opened it and put it on and I told her that we had another surprise for her.
I pulled the ring out of my pocket and told your mama how much I love her. My voice cracked and a few tears rolled down her cheeks as you sat on her lap and I slid the ring on her finger and asked her if she would marry me.
She said yes (as you know by now) and in that moment the knots went away and the butterflies were gone and I was a happy, happy, happy man.
I had everything I ever wanted right there with me. The woman I love. A ring on her finger. And you, perfect and adorable and happy sitting there with us.
I tell people all the time that I’m a lucky guy. But on Friday night. In our little home, surrounded by all the love in the world and the memory of your grandpa, I truly was the luckiest man in the world.
I love you bubba. It was a big week for all of us. And I’m proud and happy that you were with me every step of the way.
I love you very much,
– Dad
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