The book of love: the next chapter

"I love it when you give me things

and you

you ought to give me wedding rings"
-The book of love by Peter Gabriel

On Saturday, November 24, Flip went down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. Of course I said yes! I feel a bit guilty, because we had a disagreement in the morning and had a little tiff, Flip went for a drive, to pick up eggs and bread for breakfast {little did I know that he was going to pick up the ring and phone my mom to trick me into going somewhere}.

As I just mentioned, my mom phoned me and came up with a story that there was some horticultural expo at the Botanical Gardens in Pretoria and that we had to join them because a tree that she bought Flip died from trauma after Mila ate it and there was going to be a lunch included, what have you. I phone Flip, he says its fine we can go. {I should have known something was up here, because Flip doesn't just easily agree to do something, especially when it includes gardening. I did have a little hunch.}

 So eventually when we get there, it is raining, I don't see my parents' car anywhere and neither do I see signs of this expo, so I'm getting a little bit suspicious. After walking in circles {and on a mountain trail, where we saw dassies} to where he thinks it might be, we end up ironically close to a waterfall, inside a rain forest. We had to stop a few times while walking to catch my breath, because I was still reeling from the cold I had earlier. But the walk was so nice. Flip kept on bringing up highlights of our relationship. "Do you remember that time we walked in a real rain forest in Mpumalanga? Or that time when..." Going down memory lane was a solid reminder of why I was so in love with Flip and the long journey that we have already taken together. 

Anyway, when we finally reached the waterfall we found that it was not working. I'm ready to walk on and Flip asks if I'm in a hurry, noticing how lovely the spot where we were standing looks. He joked that my parents are at the bottom of the waterfall and that I had to call to them, so I did. "Your parents aren't here," he said and then he went down on one knee and asked "Megan, will you marry me?" I put my handbag down and starting crying. I said yes and Flip said "Well would you mind taking the ring now so I can get up?"  He put the ring on my finger and we kissed. And I cried all the time.

The sad thing is that we didn't get any photos, because there was no one around to take photos and we also didn't take our cellphones. But I am now the future Mrs van Wyngaardt and our love story will keep on growing.

Ad infinitum