When one is in a serious relationship and at a certain age, one starts to wonder if today is going to be ‘the day.’ You know, the day when your significant other gets down on one knee and confesses their undying love for you and how they can’t imagine life without you and that from now on they want to know that you will be theirs and only theirs. You know, the day one calls, The Day of the Proposal TM.

The thing about finding ‘the one’ is that in most instances, you know early on. And whether or not you officially decide to spend the rest of your life with that person the moment you feel it, or if you wait 40 years, you know. You always do.

For me, I was in trouble with Mr. Opposite pretty much right away. The first time he hugged me I knew I was in for it. But little did I know that he was genetically made for the purpose of hugging and that most humans love his hugs. They just don’t still get butterflies nearly four years in. I also, continued to want to spend all my time with him, so there was that.

Seeing as how I was 29 when we got together, I knew to trust my feelings. I wasn’t an inexperienced kid who trusted a-holes anymore. I was a grown-up. I had experienced all my emotional bruises. So when things felt right, I knew that 99.99% chance that they were. And, because of this, pretty much at any point in any day, Mr. Opposite could have proposed. So, for the rest of you ladies in a committed relationship who continues to think ‘today will be the day,’ don’t worry, you’re not in it alone. We all experience this. Especially if they choose to take their time and do it when ‘they’re ready’. What’s that all about? I kid, I kid, it should only happen when they are ready if you want better odds of not getting divorced. Anyway, without further ado below is a list of times that I thought Mr. O was going to give himself a life sentence, also known as becoming engaged to be married:

• My 30th birthday. At this point we were together for 7 months. Not very long, but long enough that if we got pregnant when we first got together, we’d have a nearly cooked baby. And, really 7 months (when you’re a grownup) is a long time because as an adult, what’s the point of wasting time with someone you don’t see it working out with. We don’t have that much time to waste due to the proverbial clock that ticks loudly in our ears. Anyway, he surprised me with horseback riding, a room at our favourite hotel (Queens Landing), sparkling wine and chocolate covered strawberries in our room (which are also my favourite things on earth), and a romantic dinner. So when we got to the room and I was sitting in the chair looking at the strawberries, Mr. Opposite dropped to his knees…and gave me a hug. My heart stopped for a second, and millions of thoughts like ‘I’m not ready, but he’s the one so I’ll say yes’ passed through my mind. And then when he let go of me from the hug, a huge sigh of relief rushed through me because in truth, I wasn’t ready.
• Our first Christmas. We were at his moms house, and we were about 9 months in. He wanted to do our Christmas exchange just us in our room before we went down to join everyone else. He gave me a box. The box was about the size of something that would hold a cupcake. My heart pounded and my palms were soaked. So, I opened my gift and what was it? The most beautiful watch of all time. Once again relieved because we were still too new.
• Our first trip to Disney World. Because Disney.
• My 31st birthday. This time we had been living together for a few months. I had planned on making us my favourite breakfast sandwich that I don’t get to eat very often, because Mr. O seems to think cooking in bacon fat is bad. But since it was my birthday, I could do what I want. So, when he told me to look in the freezer because he had a ‘surprise for me.’ My heart jumped. I thought ‘this is it, he’s going to propose to me in the freezer.’ Just so you know there was no ring in the freezer, but there was an ice cream sandwich. He knows me so well.
• Our second trip to Disney World. Because Disney.
• Our third anniversary at Queens Landing. Because our first overnight was at a Vintages Hotel, and then every subsequent event or needed get away was celebrated at Queens Landing, we planned an over night three years after our first. So, we got all dressed up, had a wonderful dinner, and then ate so much that we went to sleep before midnight. Needless to say this wasn’t the time either when he locked me down.

As you can see, there have been so many instances where I thought ‘this is it’. This is the time we are going to decide to spend the rest of our lives together. And, truthfully, I would be happy spending my life with him marriage or no marriage. When it’s right, you don’t need a title.

In fact, there was another time I thought just for a second that he’d propose, but because of how he explicitly said how lame it is when people get engaged on a vacation repeatedly, even though I hoped, I kept my expectations low. Seriously, repeatedly he said it.

So, on our second to last night in Paris on our first European vacation, we planned a romantic cruise dinner along the Siene. And, after four courses and all of the alcohol later, we went for a walk around the Eiffel Tower, only to stop at a bridge with the perfect view because he wanted to retake a better picture from when he was in Paris last with his buddies. At midnight, the tower started to sparkle, and a few others gathered on the empty bridge where we were standing. Mr. O cursed a bit about why they were there and I pointed at ET and said ‘because this.’ Once the people left, he asked me to look at the tower while he took a picture. A few minutes passed, and he got me to turn around. When I did, he was on one knee, with a ring in his hand, he then said ‘I’m such a cliché. Will you marry me.’ Which followed with me jumping up and down, clapping my hands, saying ‘I love you, I love you, I love you, YES!’ And after all of that, I shoved my finger aggressively into the most perfect ring of all time.

And, even though I had thought that maybe we’d get engaged earlier, I’m so happy we didn’t, because how it happened was so perfect, and so him, that it was completely worth the wait.