Blogger's Note: I've noticed that viewership of the "How We Got Engaged" stories seems to have plateaued. While the other features tend to have (slightly) increasing views, the "How We Got Engaged" stories have flat-lined. I'm not losing viewers, but I'm not gaining any new ones either. I suppose the obvious reason is that getting caught up to the eleventh installment would require a commitment.
Well, if I can be so bold, if you haven't gone back to get caught up, then I think you're missing out. This story has had some moments. If you could give it a chance, maybe you would agree. So, I'm gonna help you. The story starts here. That's "Chapter 1 - The Tea Monster". I would suggest reading through to Chapter 4. If you're not hooked by Chapter 4, then I think it's safe to say that this story isn't for you. But won't you give a try? I've already explained that this story will have sixteen chapters. So, I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And, it's a beautiful light, I might add. Everything that I have done and will be doing leads that encore.
On another note, I think I'm having a problem. Making a Parenting with Lightsabers Facebook page may have been a bad idea. You see, Facebook displays the number of people that have "seen" any particular post from that page. Any time that I share something (i.e. a link to the newest episode), they really limit the number of people that see that post unless I pay money (they recommend $5/day). I'm certainly not making any money from this blog, so I'm not about to start paying money for something. Now, I post links to my personal Facebook profile, but there are a lot of people that "like" the Parenting with Lightsabers page that I'm not friends with on Facebook. I really want a platform to reach these people to simply let them know when a new episode is available. I'm considering my options so stay tuned for further developments. Also, if you're having trouble getting notifications when new episodes are available, please let me know on my Facebook page so I can see which demographic I'm having trouble reaching.
On to today's episode. This will be the last chapter. What's that? I'm ending the story?? Oh, let's not be silly. We're almost there. But this will be the last chapter.
Jeremy and I were geocaching yesterday. What's geocaching? Well, for those that don't know, it's like a modern day treasure hunt. People hide various items all over. (And by all over, I mean all over). Unless you installed the app on your phone, you wouldn't believe how many are around you right now. You might be standing on one as you're reading this. They are anything as big as an ammunition box or as small as a film canister. Inside, there's usually a slip of paper that you can sign to verify that you indeed found it. You can also leave small "treasures" and ask that they are relocated to another location (on the other side of the world if you'd like). If you're heading in the general direction that it needs to go (even if only by a couple of blocks), you can help it along. You can take it and move it in that direction. Eventually, it will get where it's going. Or you can request that it stays where you leave it, like it's your own personal treasure that other people can see but not take. That's what I did.
To find a geocache, you choose one on the app. You're then given approximate coordinates, hints if you need them, and the difficulty level. The difficulty scale runs from one-to-five, five being the most difficult. The big train that is displayed in front of Paducah's riverfront flood wall contains one that is a level five. Jeremy and I spent some time before he found it. He's always better at spotting them than I am. He pulled out the canister, signed the paper inside, and was about to replace it when I stopped him. I had brought with me an old cell phone. It needed to be discarded, but I had cleaned out anything personal that morning. I asked Jeremy to put it in there with the instructions that it should not be removed. He did so, punched some directions in the app, and replaced the "treasure" for someone else to find. I like the idea that a little part of me is "buried" at one of my favorite places in the whole world.
I spent a lot of time during our silent searching just thinking. Thinking about what I was going to write about in this chapter. And about future blog subjects. I've always been a dreamer. I spend so much time fantasizing about things instead of working on making them happen. It certainly exercises my imagination, but it doesn't do much to actually fulfill any of these dreams. I've got what I think will be some really great future posts. Unfortunately, I've got some gaps to fill in between then and now. I'm so excited about what will come that I forget to focus on what's here and now.
Which brings me to my point.
This will be the last chapter.
This installment will be the last chapter that I'm scrambling to find some filler material. I will introduce the last of the characters in my story. And I will have the board set up for the last "moves". I'm really struggling to get through this one, because I have the remainder of the story so well planned. I want to get to that part. But I can't until I have the stage all dusted, the props in place, the actors in their positions. So, as far as this story's concerned, bear with me one last time. Endure this chapter with me, and then brace yourself. This roller coaster is about to crest that long, uphill climb before it's set free to barrel through loops and fly around bends.
So, let me roll up my sleeves and get over this hump.
Listening to: M. Ward "Lullaby + Exile"
When I closed the passenger door, my heart was pounding a little more than it probably should have been. Stacey looked at me with a delighted expression after she fastened her seat belt but before she started her car.
"Let me see it again," she insisted.
I pulled the ring box out of the plastic bag and opened the lid. I had just spent my meager savings on its contents.
"For the money, I don't think you could have done any better," Stacey appraised. "It's very nice." She sounded genuinely happy.
I took a second look at the ring myself. I didn't know much about rings, but I liked the way it sparkled in the sunlight. I tilted it back and forth, lost in thought.
"You know, Jeff thinks this is a bad idea," she began. Jeff was her husband; Joanna and I had spent a lot of time hanging out with the two of them. She paused to assess my reaction before continuing. "I don't."
I closed the lid to the ring box and replaced it in the plastic bag. I stretched so that I could put it in my pocket and then examined the "lump" on my leg to see how recognizable it would be. I re-positioned it as if that would help.
"He doesn't know you two like I do..." Stacey put the car in reverse and started backing out of the parking spot. "Have you thought about how you're going to do it?"
I smiled and nodded. I took a deep breath and said, "yeah..." I waited until we pulled onto the road before continuing.
"I was going to take her to the Garden of the Gods," I revealed. "That was sort of our first date, and I love that place. I thought that while we were looking out at the landscape from one of those rocks, I'd drop down on one knee, and, well, you know..."
Stacey smiled, "that sounds perfect."
We sat in silence for a bit. I started wondering if I was making a good decision.
"You know," Stacey was crossing an intersection, so she paused to look both ways before continuing. "So many people spend so much time getting to know one another that, by the time they get married, the mystery is gone. What's the fun in that? I think there's a happy medium. And I think you've thought this through. You're a lot more responsible now than you used to be."
I smiled at the notion. "I hope you're right. You know, though, I feel good about this, too. It feels right..."
The realization that Joanna could be leaving any day had sprung me into action. I didn't think I could go back to the Milwaukee's Best life that I had been living now that I had tasted sparkling wine.
"So Jeremy's going to meet you at Apple Bee's?" Stacey asked.
"Yeah, I want him and his wife to meet Joanna. She's got my car right now," I paused to look at my watch. "She should be getting off work any minute..."
"So she's gonna meet you there?" Stacey asked.
"Yeah. I told her that you were going this way so I was gonna hitch a ride with you so that I wasn't just sitting around the hotel room staring at the walls," I explained. "She's going to meet us at Apple Bee's as soon as she gets off work."
Stacey pulled up to the front door and let me out. She gave me a reaffirming smile and said "good luck" as I climbed out. "Thanks," I said and closed the door behind me.
When I got inside, no one was there yet. I told the hostess that there would be four of us, but the rest of my party would be here later. She pursed her lips and looked at a chart at the hostess stand. She paused to look around the room and then back at her chart. I saw two occupied tables as it was late in the afternoon and not a busy time for the restaurant industry.
"Do you want to wait at the bar until the rest of your party gets here?" she asked without making eye contact.
"I don't think they'll be long. Is it ok if I go ahead and get a table?" I asked.
She looked at her chart as though the request were burdensome. I was growing irritated and was about to say something when she broke the silence. "Follow me," she instructed as she grabbed a menu and a set of silverware.
She hid me in the far corner at a booth where I had to stand to see the entrance. "We have an early bird special. Domestic beers are $2, and appetizers are half price," she explained with little to no voice inflection. When she walked away, I took a breath.
I reached for the box that was burning my pocket. I traced the edges nervously as my thoughts sailed into oceans of possibility and seas of rationale. Life lessons that had accumulated from years of frustrating mistakes were bracing themselves for their turn to dance, and they had learned some new moves. I marveled at the way the ring could at moments weigh me with heavy responsibility; and, yet, at other moments, it could float me into the flickering projector light of marvelous, hope-filled wonder.
"Can I get you something to drink?" A friendly voice broke me from my trance. I looked up to find a bright smile beaming from a curly-headed, chubby girl. "We have $2 domestics on special right now."
"Sure. I'll take a Coors Light," I smiled back.
"All right. You waiting on some more people to arrive, or do you want to order something now?" she asked.
"No, I'll just wait on everyone else," I replied.
"Ok. I'll be right back with your beer." She smiled before she walked away.
I stood when I thought I heard Jeremy's voice near the entrance. He and his wife Ambrosia were conversing with the charming hostess that I had just encountered. Although I couldn't hear what was being said, I could tell by Ambrosia's tone that they were going through a similar experience as I had.
I didn't think I was going to like Ambrosia the first time that I met her. She had a strong, willful personality that had no patience for ignorance or rudeness. When she married my closest friend, we were forced to interact. To my surprise, I grew to like her. As long as you were on her side, she kept the predators at bay.
I heard her say, "Well, we can seat ourselves if it's too much trouble." Which anyone that knew Ambrosia would translate into, "Here, let me show you how to do your job." I smiled to myself.
When Jeremy and Ambrosia were finally seated across from me, I could tell by her expression what the opening dialogue was going to consist of. "So... what crawled up her ass and died?" Ambrosia said.
"I don't know, but I had a similar encounter," I confessed.
"Well, she doesn't know who she's messing with," Ambrosia asserted. Jeremy and I chuckled.
The server showed up with my beer and took the new arrivals' orders. "So, where's this girl you wanted us to meet?" Jeremy asked.
"She should be here any second," I answered.
"Well, if we're going to be hanging out with her, give us the rap sheet," Ambrosia submitted.
"Her name's Joanna," I began. "She's from Poland. She's working here on a visa, and we've been dating for about three months."
"So, you want us to meet her? Must be getting serious," she speculated.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box. I opened the lid and showed them the contents.
"Wow, dude," Jeremy marveled.
"Serious, indeed. You don't think that's a little fast?" Ambrosia didn't shy away from what was, in fact, a good question.
"It is," I confessed. "But, we're running out of time. She could be sent to Vegas any day now, so I have to make a decision. Let her go or ask her to stay. It's not an easy decision, especially after I told myself I'd never rush into anything after my first marriage."
"But it looks like you've reached your decision," Jeremy concluded.
I looked at him with an expression reserved for a friend of twenty-something years. It was filled with explanations and commitments and conflicting emotions and lists of reasons. I brought them here to explain, to show them my intentions. Initially, I had done this because they were the last of my friends that I really wanted to meet Joanna before I popped the question; but, suddenly, I discovered that they had inadvertently opened a window to exhaust my last remnants of doubt. I still had time to back out; I didn't want to be stuck on a one-way street that only had one possible outcome. I was the author of my own fate. But, I had thought this through. I wasn't an irresponsible child that had a sudden fancy. I had invested my heart into this venture.
"Well, it's nice." Ambrosia broke me from my trance. I turned the ring so that I could look at it again. I saw a different future in each sparkle; I had decided to invest in making one of them a reality.
"Is that her?" Jeremy asked. He was looking over his shoulder toward the entrance.
Joanna was standing at the hostess station. She was scanning the room, trying to find us. I closed the ring box and replaced it in my pocket. We were waving at her, but she didn't see us. The dutiful hostess was having an animated discussion with the bartender, seemingly ignoring the new arrival.
"I'll take care of this," Ambrosia proclaimed. She climbed out of the booth and marched to where Joanna was waiting.
Ambrosia grabbed a menu and a roll of silverware. "Hi. I'm Ambrosia. Duane's over here with us," she told the Polish girl who smiled at her improvised greeting.
The hostess, suddenly aware of her shunned duty, marched to follow the two women to our booth. After everyone was seated, the lady coldly addressed Ambrosia. "Well, did you tell her about the specials, too?"
The question, clearly a challenge, was fielded without a moment's lapse. "That it's 'Seat Yourself' day? Oh, she already knows." Ambrosia met her stare, anxious for the reciprocation. The hostess flinched. She gave Ambrosia an icy smile and was about to say something before Ambrosia interjected. "Our server can take it from here."
After the lady coldly stormed away, Joanna and Ambrosia shared a smile. Jeremy and I chuckled silently.
"Joanna, this is one of my oldest friends Jeremy and his wife Ambrosia," I introduced.
Joanna and Ambrosia laughed. Apparently they were going to get along. Before I could decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing, the server arrived. Everyone placed their orders. While we waited for our food and drinks, we jumped right into conversation.
Jeremy and I talked about science fiction movies, good books, and songwriting. Ambrosia and Joanna delved into Polish customs, good drinks, and how to deal with "bitches". Everyone meshed well, and we merrily wasted a few hours on integrating the Polish girl into our world. The process was entirely too simple; and, at times, I forgot that we hadn't all known each other for years. Occasionally, my hand would betray me and begin tracing the box that was in my pocket. Fortunately, Joanna never noticed.
(to be continued...)
Continue our "How We Got Engaged" story"
Chapter 12 - On a Knee and a Whim
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