Engaged - 30.08.08

On the 30th August I took the plunge and dropped to one knee. I’m sure those husbands and husbands to be will agree that it is one of the most stressful things to ever have to do. Not because you’re wondering whether she’ll say yes or no, but because you just don’t want to stuff it up. Anyway, Cal tells me that it was the perfect proposal and the fact that her entire family was there is what made it so special. They’re quite a tight crew the Sparks are, and generally nothing goes down without everyone either knowing about it first, or having a team discussion/gathering on the situation….so needless to say, taking Cal on a romantic weekend away for 2 and doing the deed in the grassy hills of the Drakensberg wasn’t an option. It only would have led to us immediately vacating the premises and high-tailing it back to Durban so that everyone could participate in the celebrations.

I was planning on proposing near October but had to get Cally’s parents’ (Anne and Bundu’s) permission early because Bundu was off to the DRC at the end of last week for potentially another 2 months. After I had asked permission I was sipping my beer and casually informing Anne of my proposal plan to which she replied in a somewhat disappointed tone…

”Oh, I thought you were going to ask Cally this weekend because we’re all going to be at the farm and that’s exactly what she would love”

To which I replied in a somewhat scattered tone …

“WOW, you reckon I go straight ahead, this weekend? Not wait until October?”

The realization that I now had 5 days to mentally prepare for this hit me with a BANG and nausea set in shortly afterwards.

Once at the dam, Anne cunningly fabricated a story which resulted in Cally and I having to pop over to the cottage next door to borrow some bicarb for a cake that Anne was baking. The cottage was, of course, empty and locked up. Cally then buggered up what seemed to be a water-tight operation, by grabbing her 2 year old nephew and the maid’s son to come along for a ride on the back of the bakkie. Awesome!!!

I then drove the 200m stretch with the ring in my pocket frantically trying to figure out how I was going to pop the question while simultaneously ensuring that these 2 kids wouldn’t be running around the garden playing silly buggers thereby ruining all hope of any romantic flair that I had hoped to achieve. Fate was on my side though and both kids opted to wait in the bakkie while Cally ran to the house to get the bicarb. I then snuck after her and caught her off-guard trying to yank open all the locked doors, and took her by the hand and led her into the garden. As I dropped to my knee, her confused look quickly turned to tears and emotion as she realized what was happening. We were both totally blown away at just how emotional it all was, and even though we both knew it was coming, nothing prepared us for the euphoria we experienced in those few minutes after she had said yes.

The rest of the weekend was a blur and we celebrated with Cally’s family as well as mine who joined us on Sunday morning for a champagne breakfast. What a weekend !!! An absolute gem !!!!