Big thanks to Oscar Henriquez for the design!

Big thanks to Oscar Henriquez for the design!

The road to the proposal began several months ago when, while watching a diamond commercial, I announced that I didn’t want a diamond ring. Keith was jubilant thinking that he was off the hook. A month or two later, the question of a proposal came up and being that I am an ardent feminist, Keith was surprised that I wanted him to propose to me. After a lengthy discussion, I agreed that I would be willing to propose to him but, as a compromise, I would propose in March (2009) if he didn’t propose to me before then. Fully intending that I would now be the one to propose, I quietly began planning how I would go about it. After contemplating it more, I realized I did want some kind of symbol and with my Scotch-Irish heritage in mind, I settled on both of us having Claddagh rings. Keith didn’t seem thrilled about this idea and after bringing it up a couple times, I settled into thinking we just wouldn’t have rings. A couple weeks before Christmas, while shopping we came upon a small shop selling Claddagh rings. Keith saw one that he liked and proceeded to try them on. I got very excited thinking I’d be able to propose with these rings and suggested to Keith that we figure out his size. Keith then put the ring immediately back and we moved on to the next shop.

I was successfully fooled.

Christmas came around and Keith was supposed to be flying home, but because of the ridiculous snow in the northwest he couldn’t make it out there. We decided that Keith would spend Christmas with my family instead. Before heading to Brooklyn to join my family, Keith let me know that he had a present he wanted to give to me privately. I thought he was just being crazy and told him so, but then I started thinking he might be proposing. Still sure that I would be proposing and Keith didn’t want rings, I decided it must just be something else and moved on. On Christmas night when we returned home, one of Keith’s roommates was around so we talked to him for a bit and watched some basketball. Being that it was way past my bed time, I promptly fell asleep, apparently ruining the plans of Keith, who had a little box in his pocket. Keith eventually gave up and woke me up to go to bed. I got ready for bed, crawled in and tucked myself underneath the covers.

But, wait! I had another present still! I announced to Keith that I had just remembered his mention of some secret gift. He was hesitant to give me the present then, given the fact that I was essentially asleep. But, I was persistent. He agreed, sat down on the bed next to me, and plopped a small green box onto the covers. Immediately knowing what was inside, I sat up and my heart started pounding. Shaking, I opened the box and saw two rings, one Claddagh-style band and another more traditional Claddagh ring. I looked up at Keith and asked simply, “so does this mean we’re engaged?” He responded with “I guess I’ll take that as a yes?” While I was thinking, how could I say yes when you didn’t even ask me a question, I instead responded with “yes, of course I will marry you.”

Needless to say, I wasn’t very sleepy anymore. Instead, I was, and remain, filled with excitement to be marrying this man that I feel so lucky to have found. The rest of the story, as they say, is history.

Where: McMenamin’s Cornelius Pass Road House

Joy promises the engagement story is coming…

• Gibleton
• Hazleson
• Gizleton

But these were just too easy with combining parts of our names.  So, we started trading letters – CAPITALS from GIBSON, lowercase from hazleton:

• GaBleSoN – or -
• GaBleStOn

Of couse, the ‘on’ are the same in both, but that was, in short, the genesis of The Gablesons.  It was a good idea, but science has imposed its restraints.  Plus, Joy Elaine Hazleton has a nice ring to it.

The engagement rings