The Ring "Bear" er

Todd and I dated off and on for three years, while we both attended the University of Oklahoma.After I finished college, I moved from Oklahoma to see the country and find a job. In August, I ended up at my aunt's near Philadelphia. I landed my 'dream job', and had worked there two weeks, when Todd decided "he couldn't live without me". He flew up to the NE on October 19th. He had a surprise weekend planned for us in Washington D.C. (his plane flew into Dulles). All he would tell me was to be dressed up when I picked him up from the airport.

We hadn't seen each other since I had left Oklahoma in May. We spent the early part of the evening checking into our hotel room, catching up, and eating dinner at Planet Hollywood. Then we went back to the hotel to change, and went out to sight-see around D.C. at night. At midnight, we went to the Washington Monument and sat down on the bench to talk. It is so beautiful all lit up at night!! Todd had not flown up with the intention of proposing -- just to see where things stood between us -- and where they could go... We started talking about the future, and about our future. We planned our lives out under the Washington Monument, and he asked me to marry him. Of course, I said, "YES!!!" Because it was so "spur of the moment", he didn't have a ring with him. Instead, he found a gold twist-tie back in the room, and I wore that for the entire month in between our engagement and my birthday in November. I even had to tape and staple it together by the end of the month!!

I still have that twist-tie ring in the box my diamond engagement ring came in. It means just as much to me as the other one does, and I plan to hand it down to our children someday...

My second "proposal" from Todd came a month later, when I flew home to Oklahoma for my birthday and Thanksgiving. He knew I wouldn't make it all the way back to Oklahoma from the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport without THE ring...so he gave me a huge teddy bear "for my birthday" when we got to his car. I was hugging it and telling him how cute it was, while all along Todd was saying, "I really like the bow..." Being the natural blonde I am, it took me a few minutes to catch on. When I finally looked down, I noticed that hidden behind the bow was my "real" engagement ring. I started crying!! Todd got down on his knee and proposed again. I was almost jumping up and down. The guy in the car next to us in the parking garage was loading up suitcases in his trunk, and I said, "Look -- we just got engaged!!", and flashed the ring at him. He didn't appear nearly as excited as I was, mumbled something under his breath and walked away. Fortunately, I didn't let it spoil the excitement. ;-)

We named the teddy bear Frodo, after the ring bearer in J.R.R. Tolken's "The Lord of the Rings".

In March, I quit my job in Philadelphia, and returned to Oklahoma with Todd. He was in graduate school at the University of Oklahoma at the time.

Our story may not be the most "unique" -- but it's very special to us, and we're thrilled to have the chance to share it!! Thank you for giving us the opportunity

Robyn