If you have children, you will likely encounter this same situation, in whichever form it takes. At some point in most people's lives, they find a partner that they commit themselves to emotionally, and that child will very likely react the way our Maddi did ... first incredulous, then ecstatic, then overwhelmed, and finally overflowing with happiness.
Maddi was a very busy teenager. She was a competitive swimmer, very focused on her eduction, and also held down a part-time job. She really didn't make time for exploring romance. When she moved on to university, she continued her various focuses and that meant that searching for romance was on the back burner ... until her senior year. Lo and behold, the inevitable happened and, ironically, a mutual friend set her up with a potential candidate just three townhouses down the row from hers. That was just over 4 years ago and A LOT has happened since then ... first job, first co-habitation, first co-owned house, first fur-baby ... but, call me a traditionalist, things just got real with a wedding looming.
Some of the best words to come out of Maddi's mouth about Chris came in a response to her Nana's concern that Maddi was so smitten in her first serious relationship, "Oh Nana, didn't I choose well!" Hindsight being 20/20, those words are prophetic.
Chris Cove is a wonderful young man and we are ecstatic that he will become a part of our family. More importantly, he adores our Maddi, and that makes him A-1. He is kind, caring, Uber intelligent, and hard working, but he thinks long and deeply about important decisions, and others have labelled that as a negative. On the contrary, we feel this is awesome because, for us, that shows how important it is to him. Interestingly, this quality manifests itself physically as pacing ... Chris is most definitely a pacer!
Maddi + Chris decided to vacation at my mom's condo in Naples, Florida while Joyce + I were there celebrating my retirement, and we had decided to go together to take in the sunset. Like right out of a Hallmark movie, Chris popped the question on a South Florida beach during an incredulous orange and pink sky. He was pretty nervous and, since he had already asked for our blessing, I noted that he was carving a hard path in the sand behind our chairs as we gazed at the falling sun. When he asked Maddi to go for a walk, I wondered to myself if this was going to be a magical night. I have to admit that watching them from afar was like a reality TV show because we were looking for signs of the big moment. I knew that Chris was internally an emotional mess because they had talked about marriage and Maddi had warned him not to make a scene ... She doesn't handle public surprises well. When Joyce and I saw Maddi's reaction ... pretty obvious with flapping arms and big hugs ... we knew he "popped the question" and, most importantly, she said yes. By the time they had walked back to our chairs, you could have lit a bonfire off the glow exuding from Maddi's face. What an incredible moment!
The coupe d'resistance was the dinner that we shared at the beach house restaurant with the fading colours of a gorgeous sunset illuminating the room. We talked at length about the enormity of the situation, the happiness they felt, and the love we sent their way. It was the perfect ending to a memorable night. The next 12 hours were spent trying to reach loved ones to share the amazing news before heading north to Orlando's Universal Studios as a coincidental celebration of the engagement.
All in all, a pretty neat thing to happen to us #blessed #parentlife #shesaidyes
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