When Life Comes Full Circle, Part III

This is a multi-part story. To catch up if you are just reading, please read Parts I & II

Here we are, back to our story. I left off saying that the next time that Josh and I would see each other was to be July, but I totally forgot another meeting.

In June, Josh's grandparents in Kansas City were celebrating their 50th Anniversary together. I decided to fly out there to be with the family during this awesome celebration. I remember that Josh came to pick me up with one of his brothers at the airport, and we went to eat at a barbecue restaurant. Kansas City apparently is famous for barbecue. If you know Josh, he has a thing for barbecue, especially Sonny's barbecue. I was a teeny bit nervous to meet his extended family for the first time. His grandparents were so nice, and I really enjoyed getting to meet them.

We all stayed at his grandparents small condo there. This meant there were A LOT of people in one place. I remember sleeping with both Sarah and Emily in a king sized bed with at least 2 or three small children all around us. Fun times. The first morning, I remember Joel was awake very, very early in the morning. No one seemed to be stirring, so I got up with him. He was so little, but he wanted an apple, so I got him one. I wasn't used to sleeping with people all around me like that, so I must have been partly awake anyways. I think I remember he had been sleeping on top of me and Sarah. I was so tired, but I followed him around the house as he toddled about.

That day, we helped set up the church for the party. It was quite a large party, reminiscent of a wedding reception. We all had a great time being together, setting up tables and putting out decorations. My intuition told me that perhaps Josh might propose sometime that weekend, with it being a special occasion for his family. It was kind of in my mind all that time. But it never came to pass. That was okay though. I could be patient. He would ask me when he was ready.

The 50th celebrations went really well. Grandpa and Grandma were thrilled to have all of their family there and so many friends to come out and congratulate them. I remember that many of Josh's family sang throughout the reception, and Sarah played her violin. It really was a beautiful time.

One night back at the grandparents' house, Sarah, Emily and I decided to look at Grandma Fisher's old clothes in her guest room closet. She had a ton of vintage, 1940's era clothing, hats, and coats. They were absolutely gorgeous. We tried some of them on and took pictures of ourselves. We were becoming like sisters, the three of us. We loved so many similar things, like Jane Austen movies and good classic books. It was a wonderful bonding time for us.

In July, my family and I traveled up to Louisville to visit our family for the 4th of July week. That was pretty much where all of our vacations took place at that time. Josh came down from Michigan, and we were looking forward to a fun time together. We decided to take a picnic lunch to a park not far from my aunt's home. Josh was "in charge" of our date, and my aunt and mom helped him pack some food and things. I was feeling a bit out of sorts as it happened to be that time of the month for me, and I really didn't have an easy time of it at all. Well of course, I couldn't tell Josh that!!

So we go to the park, and I kind of had a feeling that this might be a monumental date, but I wasn't really sure. There had been other opportunities before that weren't taken, so he always would keep me guessing. He must have wanted it to be absolutely perfect, because he made us walk through a whole lot of the park looking for the exact spot for us to have our picnic. We would get to a spot, and I would say something like, how about this spot, and he would say no. So the more we walked, the more I felt grumpy. I just wanted to sit and eat. I was hungry and in pain. Can we just sit anywhere???? Did I mention it was hot out there? It was July. Well, finally, we found a secluded and shady spot that Josh found to be the "spot". He sets down the picnic basket that he had been carrying, and hands me a white sheet for us to sit on. He asked me to lay it out. So, I kind of shook it out and he helped me get it laid out. Then I noticed there were words on the blanket. He told me that I should read what it said. Of course, in big black spray painted words (very nicely done), it said "Will You Marry Me?". I look up and he is on his knees with a ring in his hands. I said "YES!" immediately and ran over to hug and kiss him. I couldn't believe it. I felt like such a heel for being a grump. It was like a joy and a nervousness came over me like none other. My mind started racing as we talked about when and where we wanted to get married. I think we ate, but mostly we figured out that we wanted to get married soon, like in the fall, and we would probably get married in Louisville. Wow.

I was super shy about going back to the house. It gave me such butterflies, I could hardly face everyone. I knew they were going to be so full of emotion and jokes and everything else. The whole family was at the house waiting for us to get back as Josh had filled them in on the plans before hand. He had asked my dad quite a bit earlier that year, so my parents had known for a while that this was coming.

I couldn't believe it. I was getting married. It was a dream that I had dreamed of since I was little. Here I had such a wonderful man that I had fallen in love with, and we were perfect for each other. He and I were not only in love, but we were best friends. Our hearts and minds had become one over the past months as we had committed to our relationship with each other. There was no doubt in either of our minds that we were meant to be together.